Fairytale
by KiKi Hayashi
Summary: AU. A prince in love with a fairy; a puppet who saved a damsel; a princess who fell for an enemy; a wizard who learnt to care for a beauty. Multi-pairing: KL, AC, YS, DM.
1. Once Upon a Time

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia and possibly more in future chapters.

**First Gundam Seed fic, please inform me of any mistakes and I hereby apologise in advance if I manage to mess up any or all the characters.

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**F****AIRYTALE****

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**Chapter One – Once Upon a Time

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_Fairytales are stories with a magical element. They are tales of disbelief and wonder, yarns of fantasy, adventures of heroes and fables of mythical creatures. They are narratives of dashing princes, chivalrous knights, sleeping princesses, powerful wizards and epic battles._

_The story I'm about to tell you will have the same things. For the role of the prince, I shall have the prince of Orb who loved a fairy. For the chivalrous knight, I present thee, a wooden puppet that rescued a damsel. A princess who fell for an enemy knight will fulfil the role of the sleeping princess. And finally, I pick, for the wizard, a beast that was tamed by a beauty._

_And this is my fairytale.

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_

He walked down the corridor, his footsteps silenced by the plush carpet beneath his feet. Around him, the noblemen and knights bowed their heads as he passed by. On a normal occasion, he would ask for them to cease the formality even though they never obeyed that request.

Beside him, trailing only a few steps behind, Meer walked cheerily whilst humming a tune to herself. She was having difficulty with the long purple dress she chose to wear today so was forced to hitch the skirts up slightly to walk. It didn't spoil her usual bubbly mood though, as can be seen when she made sure she gave everyone they passed, a bright sugary smile.

"Meer," he said gently.

"Father?" she asked skipping the few steps so that she was beside him.

"Please, walk sensibly." He requested.

"Yes, father," she chirped and immediately adopted what she called a 'princess' walk. Her hand folded neatly in front of her dress, her back and shoulders straight and her steps elegantly small and neat. It made her trail even more behind but he was more than happy to wait if it helps her act more like a proper princess.

The guards by the door bowed their heads at him and then reached forward to open the large doors. Light flooded his senses and the eruption of noise was incredible. The crowd grew even louder as they began to cheer and chant.

"KING DURANDAL! PRINCESS MEER! KING DURANDAL!"

"Come, Meer."

"Yes, father" she answered, her bright blue eyes dancing with the excitement of being the centre of attention.

"KING DURANDAL! PRINCESS MEER! KING DURANDAL!"

Together, they walked out onto the top of the large stairway and the crowd at the bottom cheered even louder.

"KING DURANDAL! PRINCESS MEER! KING DURANDAL!"

He smiled and waved at his people. Meer happily mimicked his actions but with much more energy and fervour - the image of a perfectly innocent and cute princess who loves her people.

He raised a hand and the men beside him raised the flags. Instantly the audience grew quiet, eager for the words of their ruler.

"People of ZAFT! Once again, another season has passed us by." He said clearly and loudly, his voice amplified by the magic he channelled into his mouth. Meer smiled and ran her eyes over their audience, obviously not listening to his words at all. He ignored her and continued his speech - carefully summarising the events of the past season and the expectations of the new season.

"Alas, spring is finally with us. A season of growth and youth, and a season of beauty, and most importantly, another season in which we will strive for the future. The Earth Alliance has dragged this war on for so long. Our homes have been challenged again, and again, and our families put in danger more often than we wish. We have fought at our borders many times and will continue to until this war ends and the Earth Alliance surrenders to our country!"

There was an instant blast of insults thrown through the crowd about their enemy.

Durandal raised his arms again and a hush fell over the crowd again with the exception of a few crying infants. "I too, share the same anguish. I too, feel for you. However I have piece of good news for you, my people."

He waved his hand and a dozen soldiers came out from behind him. "I present you, the newest knights of the season! And here," Durandal placed his hand on the shoulder of a young man's shoulder. He was already in the knight's uniform and armour thus making him stand out among all the other soldiers. "I present you, the newest FAITH knight, Sir Athrun Zala!"

The applause was enormous as Meer reached forward and pinned a platinum winged badge on the young man's armour.

"Now, my people, you can let your hearts be at peace. As more knights join the battle, the faster this war will finish and the faster for peace will return to this land."

"KING DURANDAL! PRINCESS MEER! KING DURANDAL!"

* * *

_Once upon a time, there were three kingdoms: Earth Alliance - the land of origins, ZAFT – the land of enhancements and Orb – the land of acceptance._

_The Earth Alliance, the land of origins, was where all humans originated from and even now it still contains the largest population of the three kingdoms. However, many years ago a branch of magic users stemmed from the main population and using their abilities, manipulated the human body before it was brought to the world. Thus ZAFT, the kingdom of enhancements was born._

_Humans born with the enhancements have heightened abilities and parents were given a choice upon how their child was to look like. However, their magical enhancements made them scorned by those without the changes – the Naturals. Their beliefs were that the body is not an item to be tampered. They disagreed and finally forced the magically changed humans into exile._

_Hurt and angry, the exiles formed together and created the kingdom of ZAFT. Quickly building their numbers and shaping a land for themselves, the Coordinators, as they chose to call themselves, fought back against the Naturals. _

_And that is how the Great War between the two kingdoms started and later created Orb, the land of acceptance. The land where both Coordinators and Naturals are accepted and where humans, wishing for a life without war and do not mind being with the other kind, lived._

"Once upon a time?" A blonde sneered and her maid gasped at the expression. "Once upon a time? I thought this was a history book!"

The maid quickly glanced about, worried that others could see her mistress's outburst. "Princess Cagalli! Please! The others could hear you!"

Cagalli rolled her eyes and started reading the book again. The maid let out a sigh of relief and returned to her stitching. Bored, Cagalli skimmed over the pages and quickly started to flip idly through the book, pausing a few times to looks at the maps and pictures.

"Your highness, should you not be reading?" the maid inquired, "His majesty did mention that further studying of our history could help you in our political affairs."

"I've read it all before," Cagalli said with a wave of her hand. She closed the book with a disappointed sigh. She has read it before but in another history book. The only reason she opened this book in the first place was because it was the only book she could find in the Orb castle library that was not biased and not written in Orb's point of view.

Twirling a strand of ribbon that was woven into her hair, Cagalli tried to find some other form of entertainment. Her eyes wandered outside to the training grounds.

"Marie?"

"Yes, your highness?"

"When is my dress fitting?"

"About a half hour's time, your highness." Marie paused her stitching as the princess got up from the window seat. "Your highness, where are you going?"

Cagalli tapped her lower lip thoughtfully then smiled, "out for a walk."

"Princess Cagalli? Your highness? Cag-w-w-wait for me!"

* * *

Kira examined the blade presented to him closely. "It's not very balanced."

The soldier in front of him cast him confused looks and Kira smiled before pointing at the blade's hilt. "It's too heavy here. You put too many fancy designs on it. Try to get a blacksmith to look at it."

"Yes, your Highness," the soldier said as he took the sword back.

"Ask Lord Argyle to bring you to the royal forge. They could do something with the weight and if you want decorations on the hilt, ask a metal-mage. They should be able to get you something lighter."

"Yes, your Highness."

"Kira!" A voice at the other end of the training ground shouted and Kira turned to greet his friend with a grin.

"Sai!"

"Lord Argyle!" the soldier quickly greeted, bowing his head. The young man waved his formality aside and adjusted his glasses.

"Good that you're here, Sai. Take Mitchell over to the royal forge and get them to look at his sword."

Sai raised an eyebrow over his orange glasses. "Is that an order, your highness?"

The prince laughed, "No, it's a request from a friend."

Sai shrugged. "I was going over there anyway. I just came over to tell you that your soldiers are slacking at the other end."

The young prince frowned and turned to the direction Sai was talking about. "Cagalli…"

Sure enough, his twin sister was at the other end of the courtyard, thrashing soldiers' butts and causing utter mayhem for her maids. For a princess, Cagalli was different. She was brash, confident, loud and very much a tomboy. Another thing that marks her out from other princesses would be her ability to armourize.

A faded rouge shield flashed into view as she blocked a soldier's blow and deftly flipped the soldier over her shoulder so that he crash a few feet behind her.

Kira sighed loudly and walked over.

"Have fun, Kira!" Sai called as he ushered Mitchell away from the training grounds. Mitchell stared at the lord with then shook his surprised thoughts out of his head. It was only normal, he told himself. Due to lack of children being in the higher-class population of Orb, the young Lord Sai Argyle, son of Orb's Minister of Trade, had been friends with the young prince since children and was possibly one of the few that dared utter the prince's name in such an informal manner.

Kira grimaced as another of his soldiers flew into the dirt due to his sister's actions. Thankfully, the soldier had armourized a split second before he landed so he wasn't injured.

He peered at the nearest soldier who was lying on the ground with no intention of getting up - he knew they were better than this for even the weakest soldier present here could be an even match for Cagalli if he tried hard enough.

But as society rules apply, his sister is a princess and all his men would rather lose their pride from being beaten by a girl than hurt the heir of Orb. Cagalli probably knew this too, which might explain her frustration as she fought one soldier after another.

"Cagalli, I think this is enough." Kira said gently from the sidelines as he helped a soldier from the ground.

The princess seemed to notice him for the first time and stopped mid-action. She panted slightly and a maid rushed forward to mop her brow. Cagalli roughly shrugged her away. "I'm bored, Kira. Train with me?"

Her brother shook his head. "No, Cagalli, your maids are waiting. Is it not time for your dress fitting?"

"Eh?" Cagalli glanced up at the clock tower and swore, causing her maids to wince and the men to laugh. "Stupid dress! Why can't I just be a boy?"

The princess rushed away, de-armourizing as she exited the grounds. The rouge armour flashed from her body to leave her in her normal physical appearance. Her poor maids hurried after her with Marie, Cagalli's personal maid, being the only one that could just about keep up with the physically fit princess - being the Cagalli's personal maid includes keeping up with the princess all the time. It was to no wonder that Marie could run faster than the rest.

Kira laughed at his sister's retreating figure. They have always been close and contrary to popular belief; he never envied Cagalli's position as the next ruler of Orb. He knew she will make a great queen and that he was not ruling material. All he really wanted was a simple life and being his sister's trusted right hand man was as simple a life, a prince of his status could obtain.

He looked up at the clouds in the sky floating leisurely by. He felt sorry for his sister sometimes. All the pressure of being the heir and all the political affairs she must attend. So much that she likes to 'escape' the princess role and become just the opposite of an elegant princess - a loud tomboy who fought and played rough with the soldiers in her brother's squadron.

Kira smiled and ordered his men back to work.

Cagalli will become a great queen one day, in her own way. It was never a rule for queens to be elegant creatures anyway.

But…

If Cagalli was to become queen then what of his future? Where will he be? No doubt, the entire kingdom was talking of them already. What, with their eighteenth birthday coming up, it was only natural for others to start wondering whom their future other half will be. Already, Kira was experiencing more love letters and female attention than any men in the kingdom. It was strange and awkward for him since he never really liked attention.

"Your highness! Letter for you!" somebody shouted and a pink envelope was presented to him. His soldiers snickered and Kira frowned at the small hearts that dotted the envelope's borders. He frowned even more as he recognised the slanted girlish handwriting at the front.

Flay Allstar.

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He had left his men to practice their defensive routines as he wandered back to his office in the training area's buildings. Kira fingered the rosy pink letter in his hand. Lady Flay Allstar, daughter of the Minister of Trade of the Earth Alliance.

She frequently came to Orb with her father when he needed to discuss trade matters with Orb. Her mother was from a recognized family in Orb and it was only in the recent years that Flay decided to move here temporarily to attend Orb's School of Arts.

Kira slid a nail under the flap of the envelope. He liked Flay. She was pretty, talented in music and dance and was great with people - at least if they were Naturals though she tolerated Coordinators relatively well as long as they were residents of Orb.

She was sweet in her own way and came from a good lineage. He really did like her and this wasn't the first letter she had sent his way.

Kira sank in his seat and leant back so that the back of his chair hit the wall.

But it doesn't feel right. Flay is… he cares for Flay. He really, truly does.

Yet it feels strange - as if there is something missing. It was a silly way of thinking and he'll never share it with anyone since they'll, no doubt, only laugh. Cagalli might understand but then again, she never liked Flay. The two never really got along very well.

He lifted the letter and touched the girlish scrawl of his name. Something was… not here. It was missing. But what?

Carefully he sat forward and held the letter over the desk, over the candle.

Kira watched, as the corners of the pink envelope turn black and caught fire.

The flames quickly ate the little hearts and its tongues soon licked off his name too. He dropped the letter and left it to burn on the stone floor.

He can never have her anyway. She was Sai's fiancée.

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END OF CHAPTER ONE

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**As mentioned above, please do tell me if there are any mistakes. All forms of feedback welcome (flames, critiques, advice etc).**

**If anybody is having any difficulty picturing the 'armourize' I'm describing or just plain curious then please go to google, yahoo or any other prefered search engine and run an image search on 'gundam girl'.**

**Done? Right, see the girls wearing Gundam armour. Well swap that to our characters wearing their appropriate mecha (i.e. Athrun will have Justice armour pieces)**

**Apologies if I managed to confused you even more.**

**KiKi Hayashi**

**PS – Can anybody please tell me about Shiho Hahnenfuss's personality-wise?**


	2. Heed My Every Order

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia and possibly more in future chapters.

First Gundam Seed fic, please inform me of any mistakes and I hereby apologise in advance if I manage to mess up any or all the characters.

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**Chapter Two – Heed my every Order…

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A bead of sweat ran down Shinn's forehead as he hefted his sword up a little higher. Athrun merely raised a navy eyebrow from under his red helmet. Sweating, he was but panting like Shinn? He was not.

Frustrated, Shinn let out a cry and charged forward with his sword. Athrun sighed and dipped his body lower for a more stable stance.

"I've told you, charging like this is reckless and…" Athrun tilted his body to one side to dodge the sword and Shinn's crimson eyes widened.

CHING

Shinn blinked at his sword that had been flipped from his grasp to the hard worn earth, five feet from where he stood.

"And stupid." Athrun finished.

Shinn fought for control over his expressions, ranging from shock, surprise, admiration, anger, frustration, envy and disappointment. In the end, he chose to just glare at his superior. "You're only good because you get access to all the swordplay manuals now that you're a FAITH knight!"

"What manuals? There never was any. You just need to practice and put more thought into your attacks."

Shinn grumpily grabbed his sword back and shoved it into its sheath. "Practice, practice and more practice. Whatever! How do you explain your absence in the past month since you became a FAITH knight?"

"You'll be amazed with the amount of paper work and code of honours that you'll need to learn once you become a FAITH knight."

Shinn scoffed then gave his blue, white and red armour a quick check before willing it away. Seeing Shinn's chunky armour glow and then disappearing piece by piece, Athrun did the same with the exception that his red armour vanished as one rather than in small parts.

Shinn frowned at the FAITH knight. "Show off," He muttered as he concentrated on his arms to will the white armour piece to de-armourize from his upper limbs.

"Practice more and you can do the same as well," Athrun explained as he adjusted the one winged white badge on his red uniform.

Over at the other side of the training yard, Lunamaria tactfully avoided training with the other soldiers by taking longer than necessary to polish her crimson red armour. She wasn't lazy.. She was just… busy. She watched as Shinn tried to subtly coax Athrun into an archery contest and shook her head with a chuckle. As if the raven-haired boy could ever stand a chance against their handsome FAITH knight.

"Luna!"

"Meyrin? What are you…" Luna never got round to finishing her question as her sister shoved a basket into her face by then. "Meyrin!"

"I made it!" Luna's sister, Meyrin announced proudly and Luna caught the scent of apple pie wafting from the covered basket.

Lunamaria carefully put the basket down and uncovered the pie. "It looks lovely." She said as the aroma of the apple pie drew a pair of her fellow soldiers towards them.

"Mm-hm." Meyrin answered distractedly and Luna eyed her slyly.

"You didn't come here to deliver this to me, did you?"

"Mm-hm… what?" Meyrin gasped, her face blushing pink to match her wine coloured hair.

Lunamaria draped an arm around her little sister's shoulder as she left the pie to be ogled at by her hungry comrades. "You came here not to find me, but to find a certain FAITH knight," teased Luna and watched as her sister spluttered at the suggestion.

"I did not!"

Luna laughed as she ruffled Meyrin's hair affectionately making the smaller girl pout and sulk. "I wouldn't blame you, he is newly promoted and everyone's curious about him."

He is also very handsome, kind, strong, smart and… Luna sighed inwardly. Athrun Zala, FAITH Knight of Justice, is just perfect.

"Luna!" Meyrin gasped as the younger girl caught sight of the handsome knight. "It's Sir Zala!"

Luna nodded as she watched Athrun pick up a bow and laughed at some joke Shinn made.

"Luna, you're so lucky. You get to train with him all the time," said Meyrin as she played with her wine coloured pigtails. "I wish I could armourize as well. Then I can join the army and fight by his side."

"The army isn't for you, Meyrin."

Secretly Lunamaria was extremely thankful that her little sister was not gifted with armourization. Meyrin was too sweet and shy to be in such a cruel place like the battlefield. "Magic is perfect for you."

Meyrin pouted and stared at her own hands. "I can't even do that properly. All I can do are little things like lighting a candle and sewing."

Luna nodded but felt safer knowing Meyrin can only do minor magic. At least she will not be asked to help on the battlefield.

* * *

_There are those in the world who are destined to be gifted. Some gain the gift at an earlier stage and some when they grow white and frail. When the time comes, the Eternal Fairy of Clyne will come and bestow upon the person the gift they are destined to have._

_When she comes to you in a dream, she will present thee the gift. There are two gifts that the Eternal Fairy could gift upon you: One of armourization - the ability to call forth powerful armour to encase your body - and the other of magic – to tend, care and protect others with._

_One must not be greedy and expect both. For it is against destiny's rules to obtain two gifts. Armourization shall never have magic. Magic shall never have armourization._

Cagalli sighed as she tried to find another reason for her to continue reading this book. Deftly, she flicked her wrist and a rouge pink chunk of armour appeared on lower arm. Her maids stared at her in wonder as their fingers worked on the straps that tied her new dress together.

Cagalli ran a finger over the pages of the book she was holding up as the girls worked around her. Concentrating, she dragged her fingernail over the writing and her fingers slowly encased in rouge armour.

"Your highness, please de-armourize. We need to fit the gloves on," Marie, her personal maid, asked and Cagalli gave a faint nod before vanishing the chunky metal from her hand.

The princess of Orb held back a sigh. True, she wasn't very… ladylike or princess-like. In fact, out of all the princesses in history, she was one of the handfuls that could armourize and possibly the only few that could use it effectively to fight.

"Oh, you will be so stunning on your birthday ball, your highness," a maid commented and Cagalli nodded - secretly bored out of her mind.

It was not that she did not care about being girly and pretty for, like all girls, there are times when she enjoyed being pampered. She just found the boys' hobbies more… practical. In fact, her interest and skill in sports and her armourizing abilities are both above the average boy, which could be why many potential 'suitors' find her an intimidating.

Cagalli snorted inwardly. She didn't care if she scared away the lads. No, it was better even because if they get scared of her so easily then they were a bunch of wimps in her opinion -wimps that wouldn't be able to protect her when she needs help or when she's in a life-threatening situation. Whoever heard of the princess protecting the prince anyway? It was always the other way round. Just because she acts boyish doesn't mean she lack a romantic side to her personality.

Every girl wished for a prince to hold them in their arms and for them to lean on for protection. Cagalli was no exception.

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"No way!" Shinn gasped in shock as he lost another round. The young soldier turned and glared his crimson orbs at the FAITH knight beside him, "I hate you."

Athrun laughed and ruffled the younger boy's hair making Shinn scowl even more.

"Sir Athrun," a soldier saluted as Athrun set down his archery equipment.

Athrun raised a navy eyebrow and gestured for the soldier to speak.

"The Commander would like to speak to you."

The Justice Knight nodded again.

"Sir Shinn is to come as well."

Further eyebrows were raised and the raven-haired teen eagerly dumped his archery set aside and followed the soldier out of the training grounds with Athrun.

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END OF CHAPTER TWO

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**Many many many MANY thanks to all who reviewed, faved and added this to their story alerts. I usually reply to signed reviews using the 'review reply' option so this space will only be reserved for those who wish to leave anonymous reviews.**

**ACysDMkl**: Many thanks and now worries, this WILL go on.

**Moi**: Flay's character will get her turn as well. No worries. I don't like bashing fics and I understand Flay's character is more misunderstood than a real antagonist.

**Mystice**: Thank you for reading and for the tip about Shiho.

**More and more characters will appear. Please be patient with me.**

**KiKi Hayashi**


	3. Little Wooden Head

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia and possibly more in future chapters.

Enter the puppet…

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**Chapter Three – Little Wooden Head**

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Dearka sighed loudly. It wasn't necessary for him to make it that loud since there was nobody about him to hear him. In fact, it could have probably been better for him to stay quiet since the local wildlife seemed to dislike disturbances.

But he was bored out of his head with no company. At least, if he made some noise, he could pretend that he was with somebody.

Dearka gave another sigh and wrestled a scrunched up note from his pocket, making a mental note to talk to Yzak about his writing once again. He squinted at the barely eligible scrawl before he turned it in angles to figure out the diagram.

After a few more minutes of trying to figure out which is the head and which is the tail, Dearka gave up and shoved the note back into his pockets. He turned and looked at his whereabouts to find his path blocked by a giant bush.

Scowling at his latest obstacle, he once again vowed to find a way out of his curse. Normal bushes are enough trouble for him already since they are either his size or bigger. So to say the least, he was not a big fan of giant bushes.

He kicked a pebble that was by his feet as he turned to trudge his way round the giant vegetation. If the thing could easily hamper a normal human being's progress through the woods, then it will definitely block Dearka's way completely.

* * *

Shinn swore loudly as the stupid bird cuffed him in the head with its wing. Athrun, who was in front of him, threw him a warning glance.

"Shinn…"

"Oh… sorry, quieter, right? Okay." Shinn apologised and tried to fight the bird again.

Athrun shook his head - the first sign that he was giving up on reprimanding the rasher teen. "Shinn, it's only a bird."

"Well, it's attacking me!"

"If you didn't provoke it by flying into it, it wouldn't come after you."

"It was supposed to move out of the way!"

Athrun sighed and helped wave at the bird that was attacking Shinn's armour. Shinn was a very capable ZAFT soldier with skills that could be considered for a FAITH knight but its times like these, where his rashness and lack of planning that brings him down. Like this time, they had been flying eastward through the mountain range that separates ZAFT and Orb when the younger boy crashed into the flying bird.

"Get off me, you damn bird!" Shinn screamed as the bird flapped at his helmet. He thanked the Eternal Fairy that he was gifted with armour; else he was sure his eyes would be pecked out already.

Athrun winced as Shinn's voice rose in volume once again. "Shinn, keep it down!"

As if realising his mistake, the younger knight clamp a hand over his mouth.

"I've told you many times already. We're nearing the border so keep your voice down. I don't want an army of Orb soldiers on our tail before we even start our mission."

"Hmph. Fine." Shinn said after a while once the bird he was fighting finally flew off. He flicked the feathers off his armour and mumbled something about polishing it again whilst Athrun shook his head and ran off to scout the area.

Shinn sat down on a rock and huffed for a while. He had been on missions but never this far from the capital and certainly not armourized flying for such long periods of time. Wincing slightly, he forced his energies to his back and heard metal scrape against the rock he was sitting on as his wings appeared. Twisting his head, he tried to examine his metallic wings hoping that the stupid bird didn't clog his boosters with its feathers.

Sighing, Shinn vanished the wings and slumped onto his rock. His depleted energy resources weren't helping his already sour mood and he was pretty sure Athrun noticed it. Maybe that was why the Justice Knight didn't request his help to scout the area.

He idly kicked at a nearby pebble. He liked going on missions, it shows that his superiors find him capable and skilled. But of all missions, why Orb?

* * *

Dearka gave a cry and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. If he had a normal body he was sure he would be soaked to the bone with sweat. Haphazardly, he winded down the forest route hoping to throw his pursuer off his tail.

Sadly, the pursuer was not to thrown off with simple tricks and they continued to crash through the lush forest's undergrowth. Dearka ducked his head as he ploughed through a bush and heard bits of his clothes being caught and ripped as the branches dug into him.

Disregarding the torn clothing, he ran on as if his life depended on it – which in this case, it does – because if he slowed down, the fox behind him will surely tear him to shreds… well maybe blocks and splinters since he was pretty sure his body is a little too difficult to tear into shreds.

He swore as he tripped over a tree root and tumbled into a ditch. This is the last time that he is getting that damn Yzak anymore of his magical ingredients.

There was a yowl in the background and Dearka scrambled to his feet and plunged on through the leafy bushes.

* * *

Shinn flopped onto the soft bed with a happy sigh whilst Athrun aimed for a more sensible approach and sat on the edge of his own bed.

"Finally! Some rest!" Shinn said to the ceiling as he plucked off the hat he was wearing as part of his civilian outfit.

Athrun nodded as Shinn rolled about the bed in joy. It was one of Shinn's first times using armourization for long periods of time in a mission, so he wouldn't blame the boy for feeling tired.

Shinn threw his hat aside and his jacket soon followed it to the floor. He proceeded to kick of his boots and crawl under the covers. "Wake me up when we eat."

Athrun laughed as he flexed his hand to let the armour cover his fingers. The chunky red armour glimmered to his hand at a rate slower than usual, signifying that his energy is drained but not to Shinn's level of exhaustion.

The navy haired teen chuckled as Shinn emitted a quiet snore before resting himself on the windowsill. He stared out at the village they were staying in with critical eyes. It was the closest settlement to the Orb-ZAFT border and would make the perfect rendezvous point for their mission.

* * *

The doors of his study banged open loudly and Durandal could guess without looking up who the entrant is.

There were a couple of stutters and exclamations from the guards that guarded his study as they tried to stop the entrant from marching in unannounced – a thing that was unheard of in ruling etiquette.

Creuset calmly deposited himself into the chair on the other side of Durandal's desk as the king dismissed his guards with a nod.

"Is there some matter you wish to discuss with me?" Durandal asked as his men left the large office and he resumed his paperwork.

"I have sent somebody on the mission as you requested," stated Creuset whilst twirling a lock of his blonde hair. He had started dropping the 'your majesty' from the end of his sentences deeming that it's too tiring to add on every time he was to speak to the king.

Durandal nodded, never once looking up from the papers in front of him. "Good, and may I ask who?"

"The new FAITH knight, who you seem to have your eye on."

"Aa… Athrun Zala." The king said and finally lifted his head as a thoughtful look spread across his handsome features. "He is talented and loyal to his country. I believe with further coaxing, he would be able to help me with my… ideal."

Creuset snorted, "Ideal, you say. There is no such thing as an ideal world. There is only destruction and ruin in the future of humans. We are all selfish and miserable creatures that do not deserve this ideal world you keep dreaming of."

Durandal calmly looked at his military commander waiting for him to finish his reasoning. Friends, they are, but sharing the same minds, they are not. The king wishes for peace and a world free of fighting but his subordinate wishes the opposite – the destruction of mankind.

The doors were suddenly flung open revealing a flustered Princess Meer and her red mechanical toy.

"Father!"

Meer stopped mid step as she took in the figure of Creuset sitting in a business-like manner opposite the king. She quickly repositioned herself sensibly for an image more befitting for a princess.

"Princess Meer," Creuset acknowledged and Meer nodded politely in greeting.

"Yes, Meer?" Durandal asked and his daughter turned her attention back towards the king.

The princess fingered a bit of her skirt nervously. "You sent Athrun away, father?"

Durandal smiled gently at his daughter, "yes, I did. I'm sorry, Meer but you'll have to find someone else to play with for the time being. I need Athrun on this important mission and it'll be a while before he comes back. Please be patient."

Meer pouted and twirled a lock of her pink hair. "I'll take my leave then, father."

The two men watched as the princess breezed out of the room and remained silent until the doors were firmly closed.

"Is there a reason you're sending a spy to Orb?" Creuset finally asked.

Durandal leant back in his chair, "I am a peaceful man, Creuset. I don't fight those who mean us no harm."

"Orb is a neutral nation."

"Yes, it is but if my plans are to go forth, I'll need to know just how much I could push the kingdom before it fights back. I would need to know just whose side they will go with eventually. The Earth alliance or ours…"

* * *

The wild fox yowled louder and Dearka thanked the fairy of Clyne that he doesn't possess any muscles else he was sure his body will be dead with exhaustion by now.

"It's for the curse! It's for the curse!" he yelled to nobody but himself… well, maybe to the fox as well but he doubt the creature would understand what he's talking about much less know about his curse.

There were a few more yowls and Dearka cursed. The fox had friends.

Pumping his legs and arms like a madman, he ran through the foliage recklessly with the foxes snapping at his heels.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to steal a bit of your newborn's blood! Wait, no! I mean, I did mean to steal it but by the Fairy of Clyne, I didn't do your stupid cub anymore harm than a paper-cut! Sorry, he's not a stupid cub. Nice cub! Nice cub!" Dearka started explaining loudly - not that the creatures will understand him.

There were more yowls behind him and he made the mistake of looking back.

Two seconds later, he clattered down a small slope of wild grass, bushes and tree roots having tripping over the uneven forest ground. Dearka didn't stop rolling until his body slammed into the solid stone of a garden wall.

Dearka dizzily climbed back to his feet once again, cursing Yzak for sending him to do this until he heard the fox cries again. Oh yes, the foxes are still on his tail. Cursing again, Dearka tried to run but failed and fell back down again. Glancing down, he tried to find the reason of his failure to escape.

Quickly, he ordered his legs to move.

Only his right leg moved.

He threw the slope a glance and his eyes widened with fear at the two foxes at the head of the pack that was sliding down the slope to meet him.

Dearka shook his head about, hoping to find an escape route and his lilac painted eyes spotted the vines behind him.

Without thinking, he swung his wooden body round and grabbed at the vines. The foxes were nearly onto him when he finally managed to haul himself halfway up the vines praying that his broken leg would not choose to detach itself from his body and fall into the angry foxes below.

The creatures yowled with anger as he laboriously climbed the wall and finally resorted to growls when he finally reached the top.

Dearka groaned tiredly at the top of the wall as he pulled his damaged knee up beside him. It was turning dark and the night birds will come out soon. With another tired groan, he threw himself back into action and started to descend the other side of the wall. His arms and one leg worked its way slowly down the wines groping the wall to find the next foot and handholds whilst his mind was on autopilot.

He needed rest even though exhaustion is not possible in this body - his soul is officially and thoroughly exhausted from his adventure. His eyes started scanning the sky for the night birds that like to hunt in the dark. Having being woken up various amounts of times from owls pecking curiously at him, he was fully aware that his body, though is not edible, does not blend into his natural surroundings enough to not be disturbed.

He carefully moved down the vines and once again wished that he had his normal body back since he was pretty sure that it could scale and descend this wall in a few seconds and with far fewer actions than his present smaller state which makes climbing this wall akin to something like climbing a cliff.

When his feet finally touched the ground, he was too tired to think of the possibility of the foxes finding a way around the wall. Instead, he crawled awkwardly with one leg to the nearest thicket and laid himself down underneath within the protection of the branches.

Dearka was asleep before he could finish cursing his silver haired friend for putting him through this.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER THREE

* * *

**Seems like everybody here are Athrun fangirls…**

**Again I thanketh everyone for their delightful reviews and the precious time they took to read my fic.**

**Animelover**: The characters will meet but it's a question of who will meet who and when.

**Midnight**: Glad you like the story. Many thanks for your review.

**CriTicAL**: I hope I got your name right. Yes, it is an AsuCaga alongside with all other pairing mentioned in my opening a/n.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	4. Forest of Thorn

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia and possibly more in future chapters.

* * *

**Chapter Four – Forest of Thorn**

* * *

It was a quiet morning that Dearka woke up to. Well it _was_ quiet until the puppet woke up and whacked his head off a nearby branch, which provoked him to cry out in pain. Rubbing his eyes blearily, an action that is not required for his wooden body since it was incapable of generating moisture, he crawled out from the undergrowth and faintly heard the morning birds chirping far away on the other side of the wall. It seemed that there was no way round the wall after all since the foxes never came after him after he climbed the wall.

Once he was out of the thicket, he carefully placed himself on the ground to inspect the damage of his knee. It was splintered and cracks travelling up and down his leg from the joint. The damage made Dearka sigh. It was a repair job that would require his leg to be completely replaced or at least parts of the wood, both of which could not be done if he wanted to return to his human form again.

His body was transformed into a wooden puppet with his soul still remaining inside when he was cursed, so every bit of his wooden body is his human body. He shuddered at the thought of what could possibly happen if he was to return to his human body without the wooden one intact. Maybe the leg will be missing or the leg will be incurably broken.

Trying not to dwell on the topic, he shifted through his bag to find the bottle of glue he kept and started to do as best a repair job as he can with the knee. He'll have to climb over the wall again to find those smaller splinters of wood that he left behind. Yzak's not going to be happy that he's returning back late with the ingredients and a shattered knee that needs mending, but it was the stupid wizard's fault for sending him to collect the magical components in the first place.

As he waited for the glue to dry, Dearka rummaged through his bag to check that all the ingredients are still there and not ruined from his tumble down the hill as he doubt the foxes will let him near their den again to collect another sample of blood.

Sighing loudly, Dearka leant back and waited for the glue to dry, trying to calculate how many days of journeying will it take for him to get back to Yzak and get his leg magically fixed.

* * *

When Shinn finally stumbled down for breakfast in the inn, Athrun had already left a note saying that he was going to 'pick up some supplies for the journey' which, when translated to the way a solider thinks is, 'pick up some supplies, scout the area around us and seek out ways to fulfil the mission'.

Shinn smiled at the innkeeper as a plate of food was placed in front of him before hungrily eating it all.

"My, you must be hungry." The innkeeper commented and then added curiously, "Have you and your brother travelled far?"

Shinn paused his eating, "brother? Oh um… yes, brother. We're from one of the villages in the mountains."

"The range that separates ZAFT and Orb?" The woman asked even more curiously. Perhaps it was written into their system that all innkeepers are curious beings.

Shinn choked back some bacon, "yes, my brother is trying to find a job in the capital."

"Ah, I'm sure he'll succeed, it's the prince and princess's birthday coming up soon so help is always needed. He should be able to find employment without too many difficulties, whether he could keep the job after the festival is another story though."

Shinn nodded numbly to her voice and focused on his food. It didn't stop him from gripping his fork harder at the mention of the royal family. Unconsciously, the image of his parents and sister came to mind.

It's all Orb's fault…

"And you?"

Shinn snapped back from his thoughts. "Sorry?"

"And what about you?"

"Oh, I'm…" Shinn fought his mind to find the story he agreed with Athrun on earlier yesterday. "I'm returning to the village, the summer harvest is coming and we need all the help we can get. I only came to see my brother off but I'll return after a few weeks to see how he's doing."

The woman smiled and Shinn wished she would shut up already. "You have a very loving family, boy."

Shinn nodded and thanked the Fairy of Clyne when the woman left to serve another weary traveller.

A few moments later, Shinn paid for his breakfast, grabbed his coat and left the building. He briefly wondered where Athrun could be before he turned down the road hoping to find out more of this village that they have chosen to rendezvous in.

"Shinn!" somebody called and Shinn turned round to see Athrun coming down the road with an armful of travelling supplies.

"Athrun!" He called back and forgot that he was still walking whilst his attention was behind him. He quickly turned back round before he either trip or crash into something. Unfortunately it was the latter as he walked right into a pretty girl in blue.

"Sorry." He apologised immediately as he crashed into the girl and tried to steady both of them. His hand had intended to spiral to catch her waist but he must have miscalculated her height as her waist was much lower down than where his hand managed to rest.

The girl shrieked and the next thing Shinn knew was an elbow flying into his face and the girl running away in terror.

Athrun's frowning face came into view as the younger boy held his injured nose is pain. "You know, the next time you try to steady a girl, catch her waist and not her chest."

Shinn scowled at the knight through nursing his nose. "That's what I was doing! Fairy of Clyne, that girl has a hard elbow!"

* * *

"It's all your fault, we lost her!" Sting noted as Auel looked about frantically to find the missing girl.

"How was I to know she wasn't following me?" Auel argued back. "Stupid Stellar. She was here one minute and then…"

"Sting!" Stellar's voice cried and the green haired young man looked up immediately to see a blur of blonde and blue before it ran into him, successfully knocking him back a few paces.

The girl shivered in his chest despite the warm weather.

"Che, if you're that easily scared then you shouldn't have ran off in the first place," pointed out Auel as Sting placed a comforting arm around the girl.

* * *

"What's with all these thorns?" Dearka complained out loud as he hobbled around the thicker patches of spikes. He poked at the nearest bush of thorns with the branch he had broken off and utilized as a crutch.

After a few minutes of walking from the wall, the wild bushes quickly started dying out and instead replaced with what was like an entire forest made of thorns. Had Dearka had a real human body, he would be suffering from numerous cuts by now, but since he isn't, he suffered torn clothing and scratches all about his woodwork.

Dearka was once again thankful that he was a puppet and not a human else how was he suppose to make any progress through this place if he can't crawl under most of the thick thorn bushes.

He dropped to his knees again and carefully manoeuvring his damaged leg, he slid under yet another patch of thorns. He must have been on his belly under the thick growth of thorns for five minutes when he realised how quiet it was.

Dearka stopped sawing at the branch that was blocking his way and listened.

Silence.

Not even a bird or even a hint of wind. In fact, now that he thought back, he hasn't seen a single insect or bug even once during his entire stay in this side of the wall. Curious, the puppet slid back to the tiny bit of clearing he was in before he crawled beneath the thorn bushes. Without a word, Dearka plunged his dagger (which to him, is almost like a sword due to his small size) into the earth and started digging.

A few minutes later, Dearka was back under the thorns with renewed determination and completely unnerved. He dragged his wooden body across the dimly lit forest floor as he sawed his escape route as quickly as possible.

There wasn't a single worm or bug in the soil, no matter where or how deep he dug but what scared him more was the fact that when his spade pierced the soil, a waft of magic shot through the air - magic that has been buried and left untouched for a long, long time. Magic that was strong enough for his cursed wooden body to sense much less a normal human body.

"What is this place?" he cried to himself as he hook his still functioning foot around the branch he was using as a crutch and dragged it out with him from the thorn bushes. Dearka quickly stood up with the help of the branch and tried to find the quickest escape route.

A tower loomed above the thorns and Dearka started for it without thinking - anything than being stuck among this forest of thorns.

* * *

Athrun gave the room they were staying the previous night, a quick scan. It was spotless of anything that could link them to their mission. He gave a satisfied nod and Shinn beside him did the same.

"Are you sure you're capable of getting to and fro ZAFT?" Athrun asked once again and Shinn nodded.

"I'll come by the route you showed me, it should be fine. I used to live in Orb's borders so I'll be fine."

Athrun raised an eyebrow. "Shinn, you use to live in the northern Orb borders. We're currently in the north-west."

Shinn waved a hand to shoo the comment aside, "Yeah but all the security procedures are the same."

Athrun heft his bag onto his shoulders and glanced back at the younger soldier. "I'll be heading off then."

"Aa, I'll see you a month's time," Shinn said as Athrun turned and walked out the door.

* * *

Dearka gingerly poked the stone step in front of him before judging it safe to climb onto. It had took him several hours to get to the tower, having to make more than several detours around patches of thorn that were too dense to go through, and another hour for him to finally reach somewhat near the top of the spiralling staircase.

The puppet stared at the wooden door that was ahead of him and quietly prayed that it wasn't locked, else he would have climbed all these steps for nothing. He also prayed for the room ahead to have a window that is within his reachable distance since the windows that decorate the walls of the stairs are all too tall for him to see out of.

It took him three steps from the top to realise that the door in front of him was strangely leaking threads. Yes… threads.

Curious and fearing what he would find behind the door he touched the chestnut coloured threads carefully.

A pause.

Dearka let out a sigh of relief as nothing happened. He hobbled to the door and after wrestling with the door's edge a bit; he managed to get it open enough to squeeze into the room. He poked his head inside first to survey the room for possible dangers and what he saw could have made his jaw drop to the ground had it not been attached to his wooden face.

Mountains upon mountains of chestnut threads heaped everywhere, spilling over the little furniture the room contained and among the sea of threads? A girl lay sleeping peacefully.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

* * *

**Rocy**: I hope Dearka's character is much more clearer in this chapter. Many thanks for reading as well.

**CriTicAl**: I always have to think really hard when I write your name and when I'm finished, it still doesn't look right! Oh well. Again I thank you for reviewing and so quickly after the post as well!

**KiKi Hayashi**


	5. When She Loved Me

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia and possibly more in future chapters.

**I apologise in advance for the OC I stuck here. Sai x OC. (Yes, you read that right. Sai, the bespectacled sub character that hardly anybody notices.)**

* * *

**Chapter Five – When She Loved Me**

* * *

Flay squealed loudly before abandoning Sai's arm and ran towards the brightest coloured fabric there was in the shop. The boy smiled at the actions of his excited fiancé as she gushed over the velvets and lace.

"Sai?" Flay twirled round to ask, "How does this colour look on me?"

She pulled a length of the cloth in question and placed it across her figure.

"Nice," Sai answered with a smile as, to him, Flay looks beautiful in everything.

She pouted, "But you say that about all my things!"

Sai laughed and quickly told her that to him, everything about her is nice. Her only response was to giggle and spin round to look at another set of colours.

Sai smiled and remembered the days when he would say the exact same phrase and she would giggle, blush and protest against him. He remembered how she used to drag him by the arm over to the bundles of cloth she liked rather than dropping his arm and running over by herself. He also remembered how she used to brighten up every time he appeared before her and how the mention of his name could get her full attention.

Seeing where his mind is wandering to, Sai quickly shook his head to clear it of thoughts. Flay is still the same girl she used to be, he was sure of it. She was just used to the relationship now and…

"Ne, Sai? Do you think Prince Kira would like this colour? After all it is his birthday ball. It would be rude if I turn up in some ghastly colour he doesn't like, right?"

The young Argyle sighed and stared at her. Flay had already turned back round to study her reflection in the mirror. What happened to the times when Sai's opinion mattered?

Maybe she was playing some silly game of hers to get him jealous, or she was playing it because he did something wrong. Whatever it was, he wished it was just a game and whatever wrongs he did, he hoped that the present he planned would bring her back to him.

* * *

Dearka blinked, then rubbed his eyes and blinked again – he would have pinched himself but a wooden body is somewhat hard to pinch. Nope, the image is still there so it must not be a dream.

He quietly stared at the girl's figure that looked like it was wrapped in some protective cocoon by the chestnut threads. Somehow, he felt as if he was intruding into somebody's bedroom and he nervously wondered if he should go back… at least until our dear puppet caught sight of the window.

Hobbling as fast and as quietly as he could, Dearka somehow or the other managed to get through the sea of threads and to the window that was…

Beyond his reach once again…

The puppet huffed in frustration and once again hating the curse that turned him into this state. He swung back round, resolute in finding another window and his eyes landed on the sleeping girl that he had momentarily forgotten.

He played with the thought of waking the girl up and seeking her help but then having not met any creatures big or small so far within this walled area, it pretty suspicious to find a girl amongst it all of the sudden. The fact that she is also wrapped in brown threads didn't help his decision either.

Sometimes he really does wish that his puppet form came with the insane amount of magic like that of Yzak's when he got hit by the curse.

Feeling desperate, Dearka climbed the mountains of thread that surrounded the girl's body.

"Oy," Dearka called as he climbed onto the girl's shoulder and touched her cheek. He had expected her to be strangely cold like some sort of bewitched product of this hellishly magical place, but she was warm and Dearka was somewhat relieved – at least there is something normal about this place.

The girl didn't even twitch to his call.

"Oy!" he tried again, this time pinching her cheeks.

He half-expected to be smacked away but considering the girl's hands were bound against her body by the strange thread, he guessed it wouldn't be happening.

"Maybe you're dead," he murmured and fumbled at the girl's neck for a pulse.

She was alive and Dearka grew even more confused.

"Wake up," he tried again and patted her lightly on the cheeks. She look strangely familiar somehow as if he had seen her somewhere before.

"Oy! Wak-"

He gasped as the bunch of threads he was clinging on snapped and he was pitched forward – suddenly, the girl's face seemed a lot closer than before…

"Cra-"

Dearka's arms wheeled backwards in their sockets as he tried to steady himself but fate seemed to enjoy toying with him and the sleeping girl's lips loomed in front of him.

* * *

Flay chimed her goodbyes and watched her fiancé climb back into the carriage before dropping her smile alongside her shopping in the nearest maid's arms.

"Welcome back, Miss Flay," a maid greeted and Flay nodded an acknowledgement before making her way straight to her room.

The maid with her shopping followed as quickly as she could and, on Flay's request, deposited the items on the window seat.

The daughter of Allstar sighed and flopped onto her bed face first as soon as the maid left. Her cheerful façade disappeared and she kicked off her shoes. The same shoes that she used to love more than her entire wardrobe combined. The same shoes that Sai bought her on their first date.

"But I don't love them anymore," Flay mumbled into the blankets. She turned her head to one side and stared at the engagement ring on her finger. Without a second thought, Flay slipped the ring off and placed it aside.

"Is it so wrong for a girl to find her happiest future?" She asked to thin air as her eyes drifted to the window where she could just about make out one of the towers of the castle and she wondered whether the prince would like her new dress or not.

* * *

"Sai!"

Sai turned around at the call of his name and nearly speared an assistant's hand with his quill as it slid off his clipboard.

"Kira? What are you doing here?" Sai asked once he apologised to the assistant.

There was a flurry of rushed bows throughout the royal forge as the blacksmiths tried to give the prince the proper respect but not spoil their work at the same time.

Sai quickly waved his assistant away and weaved through the room to the prince who was promptly dragged out of the noisy workshop by the elbow.

"What are you doing here?" Sai repeated.

"Is it wrong for a prince to inspect the making of his kingdom's weaponry?"

"No, but you inspected it yesterday."

"Can I not do a surprise inspection then, oh Lord Argyle of Weaponry and Metal Trade?"

Sai raised an eyebrow above his tinted glasses. "You can, though there wouldn't be much to inspect since the forge is so busy that it's near impossible to go anywhere in it without protective clothing. Now stop answering my question with more questions. What are you doing here? The workers get nervous when you're about."

Kira frowned but answered his friend's question, "I'm here to find a metal-mage. Cagalli practically snapped my armour in half this afternoon."

"Bad day for the princess?"

"Princess Etiquette lessons."

"Aa," Sai said in understanding. The princess was well known, at least among those who know her well, for being a wildcat in all things that involve a combat of sorts (be it verbal or physical) but completely hopeless in court mannerisms and delicate hobbies.

"Any metal-mages free?" Kira asked as Sai tried to think off the top of his head.

"Which type of armour is it?" Sai asked, though he could guess since only metal-mages could work with magical armourization armour and since Kira asked for one then it must be the magical armour that Cagalli nearly broke.

A glow of light flashed across the prince's arm and his trademark white armour materialise onto the limb.

"What are you here for?" Kira asked as Sai inspected the cracks on the armour.

"I'm always here, Kira. It's my job."

"It's your job to be in the weapon store at the back, not the actual forge itself." Kira pointed out.

Sai sighed and passed the clipboard he was holding to Kira who stared at the illustrations curiously – since when did Sai inspect jewellery as well as weapons?

"It's for Flay." Sai helpfully answered Kira's unspoken question. He pulled away from Kira's arm and look at the designs with him.

"Oh, Sai… about Flay…" Kira started.

"It's okay, Kira. I know. It's hard to not notice the amount of attention she is giving you recently." Sai said calmly and Kira gulped.

"I never did anything to lead her on!"

Sai smiled, "I know. It's just a phase. Don't worry, it'll past."

Kira nodded before stuttering out, "I don't feel that way about her, if that makes you feel better."

"It does," Sai took his sketches of the necklace back, "now let's find you a metal-mage to fix your armour."

It was a busy day for the royal forge but a few minutes later one of the head blacksmiths, Kojiro Murdoch, bellowed loudly over the din of hammers smashing against metal for an apprentice.

"NIX! NIX!" the man lifted his protective mask so his voice sounded even louder. His eyes finally picked up the smaller form of the apprentice he was looking for. "GET OVER HERE!"

Nix could barely scramble over the chaos that is the workshop fast enough.

"Nix here is a metal-mage. Apprentice but a darn good one if I say so myself. Nix, fix the prince's armour."

The apprentice did a double take at Kira before spluttering and trying to bow as sensibly as the protective gear allows.

Kira frowned and stopped the apprentice mid-bow. "It's quite busy here. Shall we do this in the courtyard?"

Nix quietly followed obviously still in some sort of shock from meeting the prince face-to-face.

* * *

She frowned at the lantern in her hand and lifted the visor of her protective headgear. The air was always stale and dusty in the basements and she coughed loudly as soon as she breathed in the air now that she was without a visor to block out the majority of the dust.

"NIX! Hurry up down there!" Murdoch yelled from upstairs.

Zephany frowned at his voice and held the lantern up to examine the boxes. The air smelt of metal and rust but it was a smell she was used to since she started in metal works.

Her hand brushed at the labels of the boxes as her tried to decipher the words from lantern light. She looked down and checked the papers in her hands.

"NIX!" Murdoch called again.

She stood up and coughed another round from inhaling too much dust, "I can't find it!"

"At the back, girlie! The gems are at the back!"

Zephany picked up her lantern and started to inch deeper into the basement, all the while wondering how she got into this predicament. She remembered fixing the prince's armour then she remembered reporting back to Murdoch but the next thing she knew, she was thrown a batch of papers and Murdoch proclaiming he wasn't good with making jewellery and finally shoved in here to find a box of gems required for the necklace.

"Back shelf, kid!" Murdoch screamed again.

"Oh, leave the poor boy alone and stop rushing him!" somebody's voice commented upstairs.

"BOY?" laughed Murdoch, "I have you know that Zephany Nix is a girl!"

Zephany blushed and sighed. She was used to being mistaken as a boy especially in the metalwork field where the majority of workers are male. Her protective clothing and headgear tend to hide all distinguishing physical features as well so to any passing onlookers, she was just a plain metal-apprentice.

She finally spotted the set of shelves Murdoch was talking about. "Which shelf?"

"Near the top!"

Grumbling, she set the lantern down - sometimes she disliked being short. Seeing no chair or footstools she could use, the apprentice began to gingerly climb the shelves themselves.

"Careful! Shelves are quite old and might collapse!" Murdoch started to shout until a crash from the basement signified that his warning was spoken too late.

"You alive, kid?"

A small moan escaped her lips and she groaned louder as she sat up in among the mess of boxes and destroyed shelving units she made. It was times like this that she's grateful the protective clothing she wears, at least she doesn't have to worry about cuts and grazes. Being entirely too loud for comfort, Murdoch started running about upstairs to find a lantern. "I'm coming, girlie!"

* * *

Wincing slightly, Zephany lifted her foot and kicked the box lying on it away. The lid popped open and precious gems started spilling out.

"At least I found the box." She muttered to herself as she moved to start clearing the mess she made by throwing the contents of the box back into it. She turned to pick her lantern off the box it was resting on and to the ground so she could see clearly but as she turned, she never saw the lump of black cloth that had rolled itself into the semi-full box of jewels.

The girl shuddered from Dearka's accidental kiss and then, before he could start apologizing to the unconscious girl, the shudder vibrated outwards.

"What the-" Dearka started to screamed but was cut short as the entire room seem to shake and the brown threads he was clinging to glowed with orange light. His first thought was to let go and run away, his second thought was curse Yzak for leading him into such a situation and his final thought was the noblest of them all, he had to find a way to get the girl out of here. Thus he started slapping the girl's cheeks to wake her up.

"Wake up! This place is going to collapse soon. Wak…oof!" he was slapped across the cheek as the chestnut threads flicked him off.

Heroically determined to save the girl, he caught hold of a flapping bunch of brown threads and clung on for his dear life.

"Oi! Wake up!" He shouted as the bunch of threads flapped about to shake him off. His eyes widened as the threads that cocooned the girl's body started to move.

"No! Wake up dammit! You'll be strangled…eh?" A question mark popped into the puppet's mind, as the threads seem to be doing the opposite and unravelling the girl's body than strangling it.

The orange glow about the threads brightened and Dearka was forced to shut his eyes.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER FIVE

* * *

**Truckloads of thanks to all readers (I know you're out there! The Hits done lie!) And bonus helicopter-dropped crates of love for all those that reviewed.**

**Thank you ****Laserworm**** for pointing out that Athrun's mission is not clear. I had wanted to write a more detailed objective of his mission in this chapter but Athrun decided he doesn't want screen-time this chapter so I'm force to write a brief summary of his mission here.**

**Athrun's Mission****: Enter Orb and spy on the kingdom. Durandal needs to know if the country is planning to side with anybody in this war and if so with who, why, how and when.**

**Yes, a very simple and utterly stupid mission but my brain wasn't working when I was trying to sneak Athrun into Orb. Apologies.**

* * *

**Review Replies:**

**CriTicAl**: Thanks for the Shiho tip. I do hope that you'll keep an eye out for her when she appears and tell me if I wrote her right.

**Rocy**: Thanks for your review. It's always nice to know that previous readers are still reading and not driven away by my writing yet. Many thanks.

**Moi**: I haven't even thought of the possibility you suggested! It would have been most amusing if Yzak did do that though. Do keep that wondering of yours going and tell me of any interesting possibilities. I would love to hear them.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	6. A Guy Like You

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia, Sai x OC and possibly more in future chapters.

* * *

**Chapter Six – A Guy like you**

* * *

Once the light dimmed enough for Dearka to finally brave opening his eyes, he peered out from under his eyelids and gaped.

The girl was glowing and floating in the air like some magical being descending downwards with chestnut waves of threads flowing ethereally around her. Dearka's eyes travelled to the girl's face and was dismayed to find that the chestnut threads that was cocooning her and flying all about the room was, in actual fact, the girl's really, really long hair.

He stared at the strands of hair he was clinging to whilst his mind went into computing the impossibility of growing hair this long.

He never caught her eyes slowly drifting open to reveal glowing blue eyes that looked like someone stuck a torch behind them. Thus he never caught how they suddenly dimmed and the glow faded along with that of the hair.

One thing Dearka did catch was that the ground is really hard and not his best friend as it zoomed up to meet him when the hair stopping floating and dropped like a rock.

"Ow…" he groaned and wondered if he broke any more wooden joints. When he finally looked up to the girl, he found her glancing about the room like a scared rabbit with her hair lying limp around her like a sea of chestnut brown.

* * *

Cagalli stared at Kira and her brother stared back at her. She raised a blonde eyebrow and Kira frowned at her.

"Something wrong?" She asked finally and Kira furrowed his brows. Sighing, the princess reached up and ripped the tiara from her hair before plopping her rear end unceremoniously onto the dressing table, knocking over hairbrushes and various items along the way.

"Sit." She ordered and her brother took a seat in one of the armchairs that decorated her bedroom. "We have a couple of minutes before they drag me to another dress-fitting."

Kira chuckled at the wince that appeared on his sister's face when she said the words 'dress fitting'. Cagalli scowled at him and chucked her tiara at him in an unladylike fashion. Kira only laughed more and caught it deftly in his hands.

"How was your meeting?" Kira asked as he polished the gem in the tiara with his sleeve. She stuck her tongue out at him.

She never liked the tiara much, it dug into her scalp and forced her to walk and move sensibly else it'll tip and fall off. She was extremely thankful that it was not a full time requirement to wear the heavy silver thing but her white cape with her embroidered sigil was a different matter. The cape identifies her as the princess in a less formal manner and she is required to wear it everywhere but unlike the tiara, she was in love with the white cape, it swished when she turned and drifted magnificently behind her.

Cagalli proceeded to kick her shoes off one by one. "Boring, sometimes I wish they would go straight to the point than use words that I don't even know how to pronounce much less understand."

Kira chuckled until Cagalli stared at him seriously. "Is there something wrong, Kira?"

Her brother smiled and leant back into his chair. "You know how I feel about being a prince."

Cagalli nodded. Her brother was too soft hearted to enjoy being in the spotlight and she knew for a fact that if given the choice of being born a peasant, Kira would have leapt to it without a second thought. He was a guy of peaceful easy living rather than one made for court.

"Do you… do you think it would be fine if I…"

The door knocked. "Your highness!"

Both the twins sighed in annoyance and Cagalli permitted the maid entrance. "It's time for your dress-fitting."

Cagalli grimaced and hopped off the dressing table.

"We'll talk later?" Cagalli asked Kira as she slipped her shoes back on and followed the maid out at the same time.

Kira nodded and Cagalli cast him one last look filled with worry and curiosity before leaving the room.

Kira waited until his sister was making her way down the corridor before he slumped back into the chair he was in. In some way he was both annoyed and relieved. Annoyed because he was interrupted from asking his twin's opinion on if he could get some time off and relieved because he knew that he escaped from the ordeal of explaining why he wanted leave.

He got out of his chair and set Cagalli's tiara on its resting cushion on her bedside table. His main reason for leaving was that he felt unfulfilled staying here but even to himself, his reasoning sounded silly and knowing his sister, it might cause her to worry about him even more. Casting one last glance about the room, Kira left and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Athrun stared at the crowd in front of him with a mixed feeling of horror, dread and fascination.

The streets were so full of people that it was near unrealistic. Carriages, people, horses and items everywhere the eye could see. He briefly wondered if the streets of Orb were always this crowded or was it only in their capital.

"Move outta the way!" a large muscular man bearing a stack of crockery shouted and Athrun was quick to do as ordered.

Merchants bellowed their prices throughout the street and children were running about playing among their parent's legs. Perhaps it was a festival, maybe that was why it was so noisy and crowded.

Carefully, he dodged a short child that nearly ran into his legs and slipped into an alleyway for a breather, away from the people. It was strange knowing that out there in the main streets were both coordinators and naturals, even stranger is that they weren't fighting like he had grown used to. He couldn't even detect any hostility between the two kinds. In fact, if anything, the atmosphere here in Orb had been noisy and rowdy but cheerful.

He stared at the street some more and then looked at the roofs of the houses on either side of him. Past all these roofs, was the castle; his objective was to infiltrate and observe just enough to confirm whether Orb will pose a threat to ZAFT in the future.

He furrowed his navy brows, he'd been to the castle and he could tell that whatever festival the city was infected with was happening in the castle as well. It also meant more guards were posted about the walls and gates. He groaned – he chose one of the worse of times to come on this mission.

A group of girls giggled past him and he stopped his thinking just long enough to give them a polite nod and smile so as not to look too outlandish.

A pretty redhead with many curls draping across her collars blushed and to Athrun surprise, plucked a flower from her basket before depositing it in his hand.

She blushed further before smiling and running back to her friends where they giggled girlishly even more.

Staring at the flower, a carnation he guessed, and wondered what else in this kingdom was different to ZAFT.

A woman beside him chuckled from her stall of flowers. "You're from outside the city, aren't you? Can tell. You must be unused to seeing girls being so forward. They are just a bit hyper from the prospect of a party. It'll be back to normal once it's over."

Athrun blinked back at the woman, the carnation twirling in his fingers.

"Aye. The prince and princess's birthday party – it's mainly in the castle but it doesn't stop us from celebrating in the streets. In a few days, every street here will be filled with people, dancing and feasting away. Anything for a day off work and partying."

"Party, eh?" Athrun said to himself and went back to the flower in his hand as he thought of ways to use this event to his advantage. Perhaps luck was on his side after all.

* * *

She counted to ten mentally before she tried her bindings again. The slave trader guarding her didn't even notice. Her wrists burned as she carefully and slowly try to slip them out of the rope that bound them together. She knew without looking at they have been rubbed nearly raw from chaffing against the course rope so much but it was fine, the blood will hopefully make it easier for her hands to slip out.

Shiho carefully tucked her feet under the bench she was sitting on and with her bare toes, counted the panelling of the wagon wall. There was a loose nail there that she had used in her last escape attempt.

Counting again, she waited a bit before she thought it was safe enough to start working on the rope about her ankle. She only needed to cut one of the loops for the rope to loosen enough for her feet to slip out.

It took a full hour of slow rubbing against the loose nail to cut her feet binds and by then her guard had nearly dozed off from the uneventful ride. All to her advantage, since her body was weak from starvation, dehydration and the drug they had used on her.

She squinted out of the wagon flap at the front. It was sunset, which meant they would be stopping for the night soon. She'll have to escape now then, as they would drag her off the wagon once camp was set and loose bindings will not escape their notice. After all, she had tried to escape one too many times to not be careful with.

She turned back to her guard and stared at him with indigo eyes. Just as he was nearly dragged into dreamland, she struck.

She threw her binds off and pounced for the wagon flap. The man barely registered what was happening before Shiho was out, kicked the driver in the head enough to daze him for a second and jumped off the moving wagon.

She landed feet first but clumsily and would have crumpled into a heap had the adrenaline not kicked her body into gear.

The horses neighed loudly as the driver tried to stop them. Shiho could hear the men's angry shouts behind her and the wagons behind her own trying to stop as well.

She didn't even try to stand properly yet before she started for the trees. She didn't have to look back to know her captors had stopped the wagons and were running after her.

The drugs they fed her body made her weak and she knew it wouldn't take long for them to catch up, like the many times before. Her breathing became harder for her quickly and limbs burned with exhaustion much faster than she predicted yet she was running nowhere near the speed she used to as a soldier.

The boots of the slave traders could be heard behind her now and she pushed her body forward. She was going to escape this time. The roaring of a river could be heard in front of her. If only she could just get to…

Shiho screamed as a rough hand grabbed her long hair from behind and she was dragged to a stop, her knees buckling.

Her captor sneered at her and held her up by her hair alone. "If I knew you'll be so much trouble, I wouldn't have taken you in at all."

Shiho tried to glare at him but her body was failing already and her eyes could barely stay open. The river was in sight. She was so close to success that she was near tears.

Summoning her last strength, she drew her fist back.

Two seconds later, the man's hand was freed from her hair and keeling over the forest ground holding his family jewels.

Shiho didn't have time to stop and feel smug. Her body was tired and her mind was hazy.

"I hate slave trader drugs," she whispered before she plunged into the river face first.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER SIX

* * *

**Moi**: Gah! More Sai fans! Yay! He needs more attention! Romance was, is and probably will never be my specialty but I do try. It's kinda hard to do romance when the characters haven't even met up yet though…apologies and many thanks for the review.

**CriTicAl**: (prepares for a good beating from you) I did Shiho wrong, didn't I? Though her scene was quite short here and not very much of her personality is here yet…

**KiKi Hayashi**


	7. Goldilocks

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

**Yzak enter stage left!**

* * *

**Chapter Seven – Goldilocks**

* * *

Still fairly moist from her swim in the river, Shiho stopped, dropped down on the ground and rested by a tree.

Her stomach grumbled for food, which sadly she could not supply it with even if she needed it desperately. She cast her eyes down to her swollen ankles and wrist both of which were angry red in pain, blood clotted at parts, bleeding in gaps and weeping infection in unison.

She had fallen unconscious in the river but the fast currents swept her away farther and faster than the slave traders could ever run. When she came to, she was in the shallow waters of the inside of a meander with only a small boulder blocking her from sweeping further downstream.

Tired and still partially asleep, she dragged herself to her feet and stumbled away from the banks without knowing where she was heading.

She spent the first two hours between taking over a dozen rests and following random woodland creatures in hope that they'll lead her home.

She must have fallen asleep by a tree because when she woke up again the sun was at a different position. She rubbed her eyes even though she knew her hands were dirty with mud and saw a hedgehog shuffling barely a metre from her feet.

Seems like fate has sent her a new tour guide.

Thankfully, the hedgehog was shuffling at a much slower past compared to the hare, bird and even the snake she had been following.

In her mind, she decided that hedgehogs would be her new favourite animals as she stumbled after it, moving from tree to tree and using each to support her frail body.

She hadn't always been this weak. No, the Shiho Hahnenfuss in the recent past had been a soldier, a proud ZAFT soldier. She was not the strongest or fittest soldier but she would not count herself the weakest either. Housenka, they had called her - due to her ability to armourize and shoot beams from all directions like a flower blooming in spring.

Slightly more than a month ago, she had been on the recent skirmish with the EA. The vile EA soldiers had outnumbered them and cheated by surrounding them. They fell one by one even when they surrendered; the naturals had still continued their assault.

She survived but only because she was knocked unconscious and lost at the bottom of a pile of her fellow soldiers – all dead corpses now though.

The rest was a blur, she remembered the scavengers coming, people who sneak onto the empty battlefields and steal what they can. Somebody found her among the bodies and the next thing she knew she was drugged and dumped into a slave trader's cart before she could even fully regain consciousness.

By the time she blinked away her memories, she had nearly walked into a wall and the hedgehog was busy shuffling through a small hole at the bottom.

Shiho stared up at the construction, wondering what such a magnificent and large barrier was doing in the middle of a forest. Her mind didn't care for long though as the scent of flowers waft through the air.

_Flowers_, she thought, _must be a garden_.

Without thinking, she got to her hands and knees and started crawling through the small hole after her spiny friend. The hedgehog wasn't anywhere in sight once she was through but she noticed that the grass about her feet was nice and trimmed meaning there's people living here.

Her eyes landed on the tree nearby and all but attacked the branches with hunger once she saw the apples hanging from it.

* * *

His hands froze mid-stroke as something snapped into his mind - a presence. Frowning, Yzak dropped his quill. Somebody has entered his domain.

Was it Dearka coming back with those things he ordered him to fetch?

No.

The silly puppet would use the front doors or at least the gates dotted about the estate. Not appearing from a bit of the surrounding walls!

Groaning, he got off the floor and threw a long cloak over his robes.

* * *

Shiho was happily chewing on an apple as she idly stumbled down a path she found. Her stomach pains were easing but it'll take more than an apple to give her body enough strength to fight the drugs, which was why the traders like to give her minimal food.

It was a windy path through the orchard and around part of the garden but she was too tired to follow it closely. A castle loomed in front of her and if she was in a more admiring mood, she would have stared at it in wonder or curiosity, but she was tired so she went straight up to the door and pushed herself inside.

A warm fire greeted her and a bowl of porridge. She didn't even stop to think and started on the bowl with manners that would appal all those court ladies back in ZAFT.

The food was barely warm enough so she was soon licking her fingers and eyes drooping. Food and sleep, the perfect combination to drive the slave-drug from her system and since she fulfilled the former, it leaves her only the latter.

Should she sleep at the table?

No. She's intruding. She should go find the owner of this castle and ask to stay the night especially because she didn't want to be kicked out mid-sleep.

* * *

Yzak was grumbling and grouchy. He had been pulled away from an important spell that could essentially free him from this curse and made to stalk through the gardens like some bumbling idiot.

A bumbling idiot, that's what the intruder is. Who else would walk like a drunk from tree to tree in such a haphazard manner? He had thought the intruder would be of malicious intent but so far the idiot's trail says otherwise. It was easy enough to follow even without his tracking spell that made the trail glow a bright yellow.

"What the hell is wrong with following the paths?" he muttered as he watched the trail cut right across his lawn and even through a few low bushes. Wisely, he stuck to the path and winced at the state of his strawberry garden.

Yzak followed the path to the kitchen door where he gaped at the muddy footprints, which is decorating his newly polished floor. Sweet Fairy of Clyne! He has a beggar in the house.

He glared at the abandoned and empty porridge bowl before stomping through the house and flooding the entire castle with his senses. The guy was in his territory now and boy was he going to…

The ballroom.

Yzak's heart nearly stopped.

* * *

Shiho groaned as somebody banged the door open. She blearily blinked her eyes open before glancing at the stranger that was staring at her with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Dear Fairy of Clyne," the white haired young man manage to whisper in shock before something tidal waved through the air like some shockwave, flooring both of them.

She coughed loudly once the wave passed, feeling much like somebody punched her in the lungs and then clouted her across the head. "What?"

The white hair lad crawled off the floor, his eyes still wide with disbelief. "Y-You…" He glared at the floor and noted the smudges of ink that trailed like a path from the door to where she is lying.

His blue eyes shot up and she felt herself froze on the spot. "You ruined my magic circle!"

"Circle?" she managed to say before reaching up to nurse her sore head. What happened? How did she get here?

She was stumbling down the corridors and went into a glowing room then…

"I fell asleep." Shiho finally said, "I was tired and my body collapsed on me."

If anything the boy's rage grew even more and she stared in wonder as strands of his hair and robes fluttered into the air.

Ten minutes later, she was dragged like a ragdoll by the arm up a musty staircase with her ankles bouncing painfully off the steps. It was a wonder she hadn't collapsed again and also a wonder that the boy didn't break her arm in his grasp.

There was a squeak as he kicked open an old door and she yelped as she was practically thrown forward into the room. Her knees hit the stone floor first and even without looking she knew that she was a pathetic sight right now.

The boy sneered and slammed the door close. She heard a jingling of keys as he locked her in the room but she didn't care. In fact, she merely pulled herself onto the bare wooden bed in the corner and slept like a dog.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN

* * *

**And next chapter, we're finally heading back to focus on the Orb side of things (hears all readers groan 'finally' in perfect unison) hehe. Sorry for the delay…**

**Rocy**: Yes, the list continues to grow but will they all meet at the festival? Well the answer to that is 'some'.

**CriTicAl**: I'm getting the hang on typing your name! (celebrates) Asucaga meets next chapter… one will meet the other but the other will not meet the one…. Does that make any sense?

**KiKi Hayashi**


	8. Topsy Turvy Day

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Eight – Topsy Turvy Day**

* * *

The first thing Sai did when he entered the workshop that morning was to start shouting orders. Were the wheels of the carriage fixed? What of the swords? What of the staves?

The workshop was a flurry of action and his voice wasn't the only one bellowing orders. The royal twins' birthday party was tonight and there will be a grand parade through the city before that. Last minute wheel fixes were everywhere before the grand carriages were driven into the castle and the floats guided by horses towards the starting point of the parade.

Once the last carriage was out the gates, it was time for their clients to start filtering in to collect swords, staves and any other polished and fixed products that they are going to wear as part of their uniform tonight. It was then that the young Argyle finally managed to slip away from the havoc to creep into the courtyard.

* * *

Zephany was rushing through a corridor with her arms full of polishing equipment when somebody grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her into the courtyard.

"Lord Argyle!" she stammered and quickly tried to bow at the young lord.

However, his hands stopped her before she could complete the bow so she frowned at him.

"Nix, do you know where…" he started.

"Your present for the prince is with Murdoch," she quickly answered.

The young lord smiled and reached over to relieve her of half the load in her arms. "Yes, I know that. I actually came to ask you about my necklace."

She blushed, "it's in the apprentice area of the workshop."

"Is it possible to fetch it now? I don't think I have time later to pick it up."

She nodded understandingly and quickly dropped her load on a nearby table. "It's near the end of preparations anyway. I'll be right back."

When she reappeared again, Zephany was surprised to see the young lord sitting there polishing a sword like it was something he did every day.

"My lord! Your clothes!"

He laughed, "They'll be fine. I wasn't expecting to escape here clean so I chose not to change into my formal clothes until later. Now, the necklace?"

Blushing and shy about her work, she shoved the box into his hands nervously. She never made jewellery for a client before, though she made enough in her lessons.

He smiled at her kindly and opened the box. "It's perfect."

Zephany scratched the back of her neck as she fought a blush. "I only followed the diagrams. Your design was so beautiful that I was worried I'll screw it up."

He touched the swirls of silver that formed the necklace and traced them gently and tenderly from one tiny gem to another before stopping on the purple teardrop amethyst that formed the pendant. His face practically glowed with love and Zephany silently wished she were Lady Allstar, if only just to have somebody love her so much.

"NIX!" Murdoch's voice bellowed from the workshops and she jumped half a foot into the air.

Lord Argyle chuckled at her, "it is fine, you may go - the necklace is perfect. You can tell Murdoch to expect payment from me in a week's time at the latest."

She nodded, bowed and left him standing in the courtyard staring at the necklace once more.

* * *

Athrun crossed his arms and leant back against the alleyway wall as the line of beautiful white horses passed by. He watched as the crowd lining the edges of the parade cheered loudly and the girls threw their handkerchiefs at the handsomely dressed soldiers marching down the street.

He had to admit, the citizens of Orb seems to enjoy themselves much more than those in ZAFT celebrating Princess Meer's birthday. In fact, he would be quite surprised if the majority of the population are not out of their homes and celebrating in the streets already.

"The princess!" a little girl at the front gasped followed by a giant wave of murmurs and cheering as a flat platform wheeled round the corner and its leading horse trot into view.

The princess was a blonde wearing a simple green dress that upon closer inspection, the viewer will find many tiny yet beautiful details embroidered upon its surface making it appear simple from afar and fascinatingly elegant up close. Green feathers and ribbons were placed neatly in her hair in such a way that they wouldn't draw the attention from the tiara but instead makes people look up to see it.

Judging from the public's reaction and his reference notes, Athrun would judge that she was well loved by the people even if he heard she was very much a wildcat in everything she did.

The children cried in delight as the platform the princess was standing on drew near and revealed basket upon baskets of flowers placed in the centre causing Athrun to raise an eyebrow.

Had it been Princess Meer of ZAFT, she would be in a gold and white open carriage, dressed prettily and beaming smiles to all whilst waved and blowing kisses to everyone the carriage passed.

Princess Cagalli was the opposite. Rather than an open carriage, it was a flat platform painted red and gold with baskets upon baskets of flowers piled in the centre and a dozen of maids in matching outfits.

"Princess Cagalli!" the children in the crowd squealed and Athrun watched as the blonde princess and the maids jumped off the moving platform with an armful of flowers each. The blonde smiled and, with her maids, started gifting all the girls in the audience with a flower each. Athrun decided that maybe his notes were wrong about her being a brash, young tomboy…

"Happy Birthday, princess!" the young girls cried loudly in turn as the flowers were placed in their hands. Princess Cagalli was actually quite cute and sweet when she smiled like that and our dear ZAFT knight decided to make a note to his resources that their information was completely wrong. She was an elegant young and sweet lady in every sense.

At least until the heir of Orb finally realised the platform was drawing further away from her and her maids. "Oi! I'm still back here! Oi!"

Yet, the poor driver couldn't hear her through the cheering and the clip-clops of his own horse so the blonde quickly muttered an apology to the children, hitched up the bottom of her skirt and ran after the platform. The heels must be hindering her as she huffed and winced after a few spaces and in frustration armourized the torso and wings of her armour to fly to the platform.

The effect was instantaneous. The crowd went wild at the magic armour.

"Princess Cagalli! Lioness of Orb! Princess Cagalli! Lioness of Orb!"

Maybe his resources were right after all, she really is a tomboy… especially when the young girl smacked her driver across the head in mock anger as she climb back onto the platform, her lips in a proud smile as she stood tall on the platform and her armour gleamed in the sunlight.

* * *

The princess's procession ended quickly enough after the princess's own float departed round the corner and also marked Prince Kira's procession to come straight after.

Where Cagalli's showed grace, elegance, beauty and the kindness of Orb, Kira's shows power, strength and the security of the country.

Men upon men marched in a uniforms and armour through the streets with weapons polished to shine and courage written all over their stance. The crowd went quiet…

Then the men started to cheer so loudly that Athrun was under the suspicion they were all drunk and fresh out of a bar-brawl.

The horses came after the marching soldiers and the young women squealed in delight when the Prince appeared on one of the white stallions. Though the display was full of manly power and pride, the prince's smiles was undeniably charming, sincere and carried the same amount of kindness that Cagalli's procession possessed.

The ladies beside him started swooning just when Athrun decided to slip from the crowd deciding he had seen enough.

He had seen the twins. Now he just need to sneak into the castle and the best time for it would be when the procession is going back into it - where there will be too much happening for him to be noticed.

* * *

"Kira!" he heard his sister cry and turn around just in time to dodge a playful swipe from Cagalli.

"Cagalli?" he questioned as the girl quickly moved to loop her arm through his.

"Shush! These heels are killing me and my maids won't let me kick them off so let me lean on you for a bit," Cagalli hissed and Kira smiled at his sister.

"One would think that you'll be use to them after so many years."

Cagalli scowled at him before signalling him to start walking.

"Where to, dear sister of mine?" he chuckled.

"My room, dear brother of mine."

"Of course, dear sister of mine."

"And you have something to talk to me about, dear brother of mine?"

Kira stared at her and she merely turned to face forward. "You were trying to tell me something that day in my room, before I was dragged away for a dress fitting."

Her brother sighed and turned her attention back to him as he began, "you know I always liked a peaceful life. One where my words would not cause war and my actions would not burden the kingdom."

She nodded and paused as they enter an empty hallway. "Yes!"

TAK TAK

And off came the shoes. Kira laughed as he watched his sister pick up her high heels and dangle them daintily from her fingers. The lack of people was always a blessing to them because it meant they could drop their appearances just for a few minutes and be themselves again.

"Go on," she urged as she slipped her hand back into the crook of his arm and started down the corridor again.

"But recently, I've been feeling… awkward."

"Awkward?"

"I feel as if I'm supposed to be elsewhere. No, I want to be elsewhere, even just to compare with the life I'm having now. I feel as if I'm missing something. Something very important… something…" Kira struggled for words and his sister cast her honey brown eyes at him.

"Kira, is this about a girl?"

Cough.

And Kira just proved that you could indeed choke on the very air you're breathing.

"Cagalli!"

"Is it about a girl? Is it that Flay girl? Is she playing her flirting games with you because I swear, I'll beat the living daylights out of her if she…"

"No!" Kira quickly assured, "Not Flay!"

Cagalli stopped mid-rant, turned and stare at him with eyes seem to see right through him. "Not Flay?"

Kira should have kept his mouth shut as his sister proceeded to peer at him slyly, "some other girl then? Do I know her?"

The image of pink hair and an angelic voice flashed through his thoughts before he shook them aside. "No! It's not a girl!"

The princess stared at him some more and then broke into laughter, "I was only kidding with you, Kira. If it's really a girl, you won't even be here now but will be by her side like you're glued together or something."

Kira smiled but stayed silent. "Cagalli, do you think…"

"Princess!"

Cagalli rolled her eyes heaven-wards and turn to the voice of the interruption. "Marie."

"Princess! Your shoes! I told you… never mind. It's time for you to get dressed for the ball."

"Do I have to put my shoes back on?"

Marie smiled, shook her head and took Cagalli's shoes from her, "your dress is long enough and as long as you don't pick up your skirt ends, they'll hide your feet."

"But the shoes…"

Marie tossed them behind a nearby suit of decorative armour. "I'll come back and fetch them later, now hurry! You still have to bath first!"

Cagalli frowned.

"I'll talk to you about this later, Kira!" she screamed as the maid pushed her down the rest of the corridor.

* * *

As Athrun ran his hands of the cuffs of his formal jacket he couldn't help but think that getting in was much easier than he originally thought it to be. It was only a matter of paying the correct delivery boy enough to convince him to help.

The boy was desperate to go start some wild partying in the streets anyway, so was highly delighted when he could push off delivering groceries to somebody else and still get paid for it. He was suspicious of course, but Athrun had acted correctly and drop hints (that was as subtle as a sledgehammer) that he was extremely enchanted by the princess and wanted a chance of seeing her beautiful form at the ball.

The boy had smirked and told him that there was no possible way he would even get as far as the ballroom but gave him the box of vegetables anyway.

Getting in was easy enough especially with the commotion at the other end of the castle where the Princess and Prince was returning from their procession. Getting out of the kitchen was the hard part and from there, to the rest of the castle.

He struck gold an hour later when he entered a room and found it full of tailored and high class formal wear - obviously gifts for the prince. Our dear ZAFT knight then started to pull on the plainest outfit there was as it would not do to outshine the prince or attract too much attention to himself.

Quietly, he ran through possible scenarios in his head and thought of different ways he could possible tease information from the upper-class residents of Orb.

It was sunset by the time he judged it was safe to venture out. The early arrivals to the ball should be arriving about now and pulling on an air of confidence and nobility he sauntered out.

He didn't get very far though.

"Sir! My Lord!" a servant boy squeaked and our knight quickly grasp for an excuse to be in a corridor so far from the main entrance.

"Um…"

"You must be lost, my lord. This is one of the servant's corridors, you should not be here," the servant boy quickly explained and was practically dragging him the opposite direction he was going to go.

Athrun stared at the boy in wonder. Were all Orb residents so… forthright?

The boy suddenly skidded to a halt causing Athrun to crash right into his back and nearly knocking them both over.

"This won't do," the boy said ignoring the fact he nearly got bowled over.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" Athrun tried to ask but the boy suddenly dropped his arm and disappeared.

"Um…"

"Wait here!" the boy shouted from somewhere.

Utterly confused, Athrun had no choice but to wait where the boy left him. With nothing to do, he stared at his reflection on a shiny mirror that decorated one wall of the corridor and dusted off imaginary dust from his shoulders and sleeves.

It was not his first time in formal wear but even after so many functions, he was still unused to it though, according to his peers, he looked quite dashing in a suit.

"My lord!" the boy squeaked and the knight turned around to find a black eye-mask presented to him. He picked it off the boy's hands and held it up questioningly.

"It's a masked ball, my lord," the boy explained quickly, "It was the only one I could find that matches your suit."

"Where did you get this?" he asked as he examined the black feathers that was decorating one corner of the mask.

"There were a few prepared just in case guests forgot about the dress code tonight." The boy turned his eyes on his face. "Please put it on, my lord. Quickly, before you're late for the ball."

Athrun nodded and slipped the mask over his eyes, his fingers touching the small sequins that decorated the mask's edges and corners.

The servant boy nodded and before Athrun could turn to the mirror again, he was dragged about the corridors again.

"Oi, slow down!" he tried nearly knocked the lad over again when he stopped in his path. What is with this boy and his inability to warn him of things beforehand?

"We're here, my lord." The boy said and pointed to the archway in front of them. "If you go though there and follow the hallway left, you will reach the ballroom. I wish you a grand evening tonight."

Athrun nodded and had opened his mouth to thank the young boy but was too slow. The boy left already.

He shook his head. Orb, he'll never understand this place.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT

* * *

**Rocy**: Goldilocks is your least favourite? Interesting. Any specific reason or am I being too nosy?

**Rhyjle**: No offence taken. I'll have to see what I can do to achieve your suggestion though. Many thanks for reviewing.

**Moi**: Your AsuCaga idea is splendid. I would have loved to use it but it's a shame that it doesn't fit into what I plotted out very well. I apologise but it was a very nice idea. Yes, long story, current estimate is 60 plus chapters - hope I haven't scared you away yet.

**CriTicAl**: I apologise for Shiho's OOC-ness. I've tried my best and I'm not going to use excuses. I'll try better next time I write her. Athrun's romantic side will kick in once he's wooing Cagalli, of course.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	9. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Nine – Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo**

* * *

"Lord Sai Argyle of Orb and his fiancée, Lady Flay Allstar of Earth Alliance," the announcer called as the two started to descend the stairs. Flay beamed happily as her eyes landed on the crowds of guests and the dance floor.

Sai could not help but smile as the girl's eyes danced about the room in delight and excitement. The girl loved attention and social gatherings, even better if it's something formal and required prettying herself up. He carefully guided her down the rest of the stairs and watched as she was quickly surrounded by a few of her other friends.

His hand closed about the necklace that was hidden in his pocket. Everything will be fine. She will receive the most beautiful necklace he had ever made and she will love him again. It will be fine.

Flay giggled loudly and he moved to pull out the necklace.

Give it to her in front of her friends. Let her show off their relationship. Let her show off how much he cares for her. Let her show off…

Her grey eyes lit up again as they alight on a figure at the far end of the room and before he could present her the necklace, she swished away with her magenta skirts.

Away from him.

And to Kira.

* * *

Zephany tipped her chair back just enough to peek out the window. The streets weren't anywhere near her window but she could still hear the wild partying that was happening there.

The roof of some castle towers can be seen though and she wondered what the birthday ball must be like - the dancing, the waltz and the beautiful atmosphere.

Sighing, she reached into the box on her desk and pulled out the next piece that needed polishing. Her fingers touched cold metal and she wrapped her fingers about the spherical form.

It was a dull brown-pink ball of some sort.

Zephany turned it in her hands. She found it in the chest of jewels she used to make Lord Argyle's necklace and, judging by the dirty state of the object, she guessed it was misplaced there.

Maybe she could ask Murdoch about it tomorrow.

Shrugging, Zephany grabbed her polishing cloth once more and started on the dull object. She had barely given it a few wipes when it exploded with a pink glittery mist.

Without a second though, she dropped the ball and was diving behind her chair in a split second.

A voice chuckled at her actions and Zephany froze in her spot. A thief? An enemy? A prank?

"Hello, my name is Lacus. I'm the genie of this Haro," a pink haired girl on the other side of her room said.

* * *

Cagalli watched as Flay pulled her brother into another dance as a new song started and her honey browns narrowed with suspicion.

Allstar is Sai's fiancé and Sai is Kira's friend.

The girl is not only hurting Sai in the process but Kira and Sai's friendship as well.

A suitor suddenly blocked her view and she impatiently declined his offer to dance. How in Orb do they know she was the princess when she had a mask on?

Oh wait. Tiar!. Smart Cagalli, smart.

The suitor moved away, disappointment evident on his face and Cagalli's view of Kira's dance with Flay was restored.

Was the girl leaning closer or were Cagalli's eyes playing tricks on her?

Flay's lips moved and Cagalli's anger and protectiveness over her brother flared.

"You," Cagalli demanded at a random young man that was passing by. The young man stopped and stared at her before she whipped him out to the dance-floor without another word.

* * *

"So," Zephany started as she polished the pink ball that was called a Haro, "you're a member of the Clyne that's been trapped in the Haro to grant wishes as a genie?"

Lacus, who had placed herself at the side of Zephany's bed, nodded and smoothed down the wrinkles on her white and purple dress.

"So you're a magical being?"

"Yes, I am."

Zephany blinked then pondered over what she was told.

Clynes are magical beings that reside in the realm of Eternal, the source of all magic. It was their duty to keep the huge amount of overpowering magic from flowing into the living world and ensure all magic arriving are in small controlled doses.

But why would a Clyne be here? In fact, who could overpower a Clyne enough to trap them in a Haro?

Lacus smiled prettily at her and Zephany wondered if she should trust her.

"What else do you do apart from granting wishes?"

Lacus blinked her lovely blue eyes and touched her chin with a finger as she thought of an answer. "As a genie? Nothing else. I only grant those who rub my cage three wishes and then my Haro will disappear and reappear in another place where I'll wait for a new master to repeat the process."

"Can I wish for anything?"

The Clyne shook her pink locks. "There are rules to the wishes. Firstly, I cannot kill anyone with my wishes nor can I make people fall in love with another. I can't make the dead come back alive and I can allow no more than three wishes."

Still sceptical about the entire thing, Zephany tugged at the ends of her own hair before peering out the window and catching sight of the castle towers.

Lacus caught her looking and followed her gaze. "Is there a party?" she asked as she saw a firework whizz into the air and explode like a red flower in bloom.

"The prince and princess's birthday."

The genie tilt her head to one side curiously, "Why are you not attending?"

"Pardon?"

"Why are you not at the party? Why are you here, alone, in your room?"

The metal mage sighed and put the half polished Haro to one side to pick up another jewel that needed polishing. "I'm not a member of high society and I have work to do."

"What about your friends? You can join their party."

Zephany blushed. "No, it's fine. I volunteered to finish all the other apprentices' work."

Lacus stared at her for a bit before understanding dawned on her face, "You're shy. You wanted them to invite you rather than showing up… But they never thought to give you an invitation."

Zephany blushed some more and gazed longingly at the castle. Her feet ached to dance, but not just any dance. Not the clumsy laughter filled kind that one would expect in a street party. It had been a long time since she danced and she wished to dance properly like one would in a ballroom or on stage.

"Lacus… I wish-"

"Be very careful in your choice of words, Zephany." Lacus interrupted. "I could make you dance as you wish but if you said it wrong, you might keep dancing until you die."

Her master gaped in shock and quietly rearranged her sentences.

"I wish to attend the royal ball until twelve midnight."

"Midnight?"

The metal-mage nodded, "I need to finish my work after all."

Her genie smiled and FLASH, they were gone.

* * *

Athrun could only stare quietly in shock as the girl forcefully dragged him to the dance-floor. Was it not the man's job to ask the girl for a dance? When has it been the other way round?

In fact, when did she even ask?

The crazy girl in the green dress quickly put them into a dance position and before he knew what was happening they were twirling on the dance-floor with one of his hands on her waist and the other holding her other hand.

The girl's attention wasn't on him though; instead her honey brown eyes were on the young masked man on the other side of the dance-floor. Instantly, Athrun recognised his partner's interest as the prince of Orb and wondered if he could perhaps edge the dance closer to him.

He didn't have to wonder long, as the crazy girl in his arms did it for him. Athrun and his partner were barely two metres from the prince when he registered who his partner was: the princess and future queen of Orb - Princess Cagalli Yula Athha.

* * *

The first thing that Zephany did when they teleported into the castle was to scream… at least she would have screamed had Lacus not placed a hand over her mouth.

The genie smiled, "you wouldn't like the guards to come running, would you?"

Zephany quickly shook her head and Lacus removed her hand.

"Now, go enjoy yourself." The genie said with her gentle voice.

Her master only stared at her then shyly fingered the shirt she was wearing. "I don't have a dress."

"You only asked to go to the ball, right?" Lacus explained with a small mischievous smile.

Zephany gaped at her. "But…"

The genie laughed and with a wave of her hand, Zephany instantly felt colder.

Looking down, the metal mage found that her work clothes were changed into a pale pink dress and ballet shoes adorned her feet.

"How did you know I did ballet?" she asked and the genie smiled at her.

"You had ballet shoes in your room, Zephany."

"But ballet shoes are not for…"

Lacus placed a finger over her master's lips. "You have until midnight, Zephany. That is not a lot of time. Go dance while you still can. I'll wait for you in the garden."

With that said, the genie vanished back into her Haro and bounced out of an open window to the rose hedges below.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER NINE

* * *

**Lacus is finally in! (cheers and celebratory drinks all around! – Juice for those of us who dislikes alcohol or underaged)**

**CriTicAl** – Not too sure how I'm going to achieve the romantic bit but I'll try my best.

**Moi** – Not going to stop even if you asked me. Don't worry.

**Dudes (and dudettes for those who are complaining)! I'm nearly reaching 1000 hits on my profile. What have you guys been doing? Well whatever it is, I adore you for it and you guys rock so much it's unbelievable and obviously I have too much sugar in my system so I'll shut up now…**

**KiKi Hayashi**


	10. Heaven's Light

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

**I apologies in advance for focusing so much on Sai x OC in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten - Heaven's Light**

* * *

Sai watched as Flay leant closer towards Kira, had that been another girl he would have been amused by the way Kira was trying to maintain distance. But it was his fiancée that the prince was dancing with.

Kira's eyes flitted up for a few minutes and caught Sai standing in the sidelines. His purple eyes filled with sympathy and apologies.

Sai looked away. He knew Kira didn't intentionally lead Flay on but it still didn't make it any easier to stomach to witness the girl he cared for dancing with his best friend. He stared at the necklace in his hand and wondered what he was thinking. Flay's blatant display of attention for the prince tonight didn't go unnoticed by him nor many of the socialites around him.

It was practically official: she wanted to end her relationship with Sai Argyle, Son of Orb's Minister of Trade.

When Kira's eyes left him, Cagalli's arrived on his lone form. She tried to comfort him in a smile, which he weakly tried to return but she quickly turned back to her dancing with the navy haired masked man when the steps got slightly more complicated.

When both of the twins' eyes left him, he slipped into the crowd as quietly as he could and walked straight out of the ballroom. He couldn't bear the sight any longer.

He knocked into a young woman on the way out and had politely helped her up. She didn't have a mask so without a thought he whipped off his own and placed it in her hands. He wouldn't need it anymore, he explained, before almost sprinting into the royal gardens.

* * *

Zephany watched the running form in confusion. "Lord Argyle?"

She looked down at the mask he had shoved into her hands and then at the spot between the hedges where the young man had disappeared to.

Something glittered on the floor… A necklace?

Curious, she walked over and picked up the beautiful jewellery that he had designed and she made.

Zephany picked it up and went after the young lord.

* * *

She found him under a gazebo, slumped in the stone chair with his face in his hands. Perhaps he didn't want to be disturbed. Perhaps that was why he escaped from the ball and into the garden.

Zephany glanced at the castle behind her, listening to the hypnotic music from here and as Lacus said, she didn't have much time to enjoy herself tonight.

"I'll just… um… leave the necklace beside him," she mumbled to herself.

* * *

"Flay?" Kira asked uncertainly as he moved his head in search for Sai who had disappeared.

"Hmm?" came the reply from the pretty girl in his arms as she looked up at him with a fantastic smile on her lips.

He blushed. He couldn't deny that the girl was indeed very pretty tonight.

"I think you should dance with Sai in the next dance. We had quite enough already."

Flay pouted, "But I always dance with him. Tonight is your birthday so it's only right that I dance with you."

He didn't understand her logic. "Flay, Sai is your fiancé. It is not proper of me to dance with you for so long."

"Do you find me not pretty enough, Kira?" she asked, tilting her head to one side and his attention was suddenly shifted to the way her hair swishes to one side and how it matched her eyes.

"No, you are very beautiful tonight, Flay," he answered and was going to say more had she not beamed brightly.

"Really?" she sighed happily and laid her head on his shoulder.

It was a nice feeling and she smelt of rose petals - romantic and luscious.

* * *

Sai looked up when he saw he heard something being set down beside him.

The girl froze as he stared at her. Shyly, she placed the rest of the necklace down by his seat and he recognised her as the girl he bumped into earlier.

She placed the mask down as well but he picked it up and shoved it back into her hands.

"Please, I don't need it anymore. You can have it."

She was stupefied by his response then blushed brightly and shook her head. She had strange hair. It was boyishly short at the back and steeply lengthened until the bangs that frame her face were touching her elbows.

She offered the mask back to him.

"Take it and go enjoy the dance," he tried again, his voice shuddering as he fought to control his emotions. The strange girl stared at him, unsure what she should do, and he snapped.

* * *

Zephany gasped as the mask was knocked from her hand and her eyes followed it as it clattered to a stop just before a flowerbed. Hesitantly, she turned to face a once pleasant young lord whose face is now contorted in anger.

As long as she had been working in the forge, she had never seen him in such a state.

She opened her mouth hoping to quickly excuse herself but then he suddenly slumped back into his previous depressed form and, shockingly, started to shudder as he tried to stop his tears.

Awkward would be the only adjective she could think of to describe the situation right now. She didn't even know whether to back away and leave him be or try to comfort him. Should she go and pick up the mask? Should she offer him a handkerchief? Should she… wait, this dress doesn't even have pockets to hold handkerchiefs!

She placed a hand on his arm timidly nonetheless and waited till he controlled his emotions again.

"I loved her," he said in a shaky voice and Zephany let out a sigh of relief thinking 'aa, it's safe to go now!'

But he went on and she was forced to sit down whilst he talked.

* * *

He didn't know what provoked him but the words were tumbling from his tongue before he could stop them.

He told her how he had been engaged to Flay for as long as he could remember. How they met when he was seven and how charming she was when she asked for him to walk around the gardens with her.

He told her about their happy days when their relationship was at its peak and how he thought he'll live the rest of his life like so. He told her how he had been placing his hopes on the necklace like some sort of magic charm that will turn their relationship back to how it was.

And finally he told her how he realised that she didn't love him anymore.

Shifting awkwardly in the seat, Zephany reached out to touch the young man's shoulder as he pulled out a handkerchief and wipe his face dry. Well that solved the dilemma of offering him her handkerchief or not….

"I'm sorry," he apologised after talking a deep breath. "I'm stopping you from enjoying the dance. Please go ahead, I'll be fine here."

Twisting her mouth slightly as she tried to think of a response, Zephany decided that if she left now it'll look incredibly rude and uncaring so she shook her head and gently placed the mask back onto the young lord's face. She sucked in a breath and carefully considered her reasons for doing what she was about to do. She loved dancing but dancing with strangers in the ballroom didn't really appeal to her shyness, but Lord Argyle isn't truly a stranger, right? After all, she does work with him.

He glanced at her confused as she blushed heavily and pulled at his hand.

He raised an eyebrow as the girl suddenly stood tip toed and his attention was brought to the ballet slippers on her feet. "You do ballet?"

She nodded and to his surprise she started dancing.

* * *

He watched as she twirled about him and gently coaxed him into moving hesitantly into waltz. He didn't want to dance and each time he tried to stop she'll move into ballet again, gentle and graceful she teased him back into small brief waltzes.

He didn't know when he started properly waltzing with her but when he did realised he was, he found out he didn't mind. She was calming where Flay was passionate. She was shy though and blushed when he placed his hand lightly on her waist for the waltz

"Who are you?" he had asked somewhere in their waltz in the castle gardens. He wanted to know who she was. He wanted to know about her. He wanted to continue to dance with her like this. She was a comforting presence. He wasn't sure what she did to make him care for her but he does.

He wanted to know her name so he could find her again.

She smiled and opened her mouth to say something but then something pink and round barrelled into their knees.

The girl stumbled but he caught and steadied her before looking down to find the object that crash into them.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TEN

* * *

**The dance was rushed. Apologies**

**CriTicAl**: Shiho will return…. Maybe somewhere within the next two chapters.

**Moi**: I agree with your Cagalli comment. Heh, meteor, never thought of that. Too cool!

**IMPORTANT NOTE****: There will be ****NO**** updates for the next ****TWO**** weeks because I'm away on vacation/holiday/whatever-you-call-it and will have no Internet access. This fic ****WILL**** go on and will ****NOT**** be discontinued so do not worry, you can't get rid of me that easily. Apologies in advance for not replying to any reviews during that time as well and I wish you guys a lovely summer these two weeks. Sorry for leaving you with such a disappointing chapter.**

**KiKi Hayashi**


	11. Just Around the Riverbend

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

**I'm back! Thank you for waiting.**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven – Just Around the River-bend**

* * *

Zephany gaped as Lacus's Haro rolled into a flowerbed and frantically tried to find a time source.

Lord Argyle smiled at her and guided her confused form back to the gazebo. "Can I know your name?"

She stared in horror as he picked up his abandoned necklace that was for Lady Allstar and presented it to her. Frantically, she shook her head and he laughed at her.

"I don't have any need for it anymore. There is no point in giving it to Flay now when she doesn't know… or care," he said with some difficulty, "of the meaning I made this necklace for."

He stared at the bit of jewellery in his hands, "I got it made specifically to show I care for her - a lot."

He reached to put it on Zephany's neck. "I don't know about love at first sight but whatever you did… I certainly like you a lot," he said as the bridge of his nose dusted pink. "As a friend," he quickly corrected when he saw her flush bright red and shrink from him. "At least, I hope we could be friends."

Zephany gaped like a goldfish as he touched a bit of her hair and then move as if to place the necklace on her.

* * *

"Flay," said Kira as he was pulled into yet another dance with the girl. How can the girl dance so much? How does Sai even cope with it? His feet were getting sore and his breaks from the dancing were not as long as he liked them to be.

But he decided enough was enough.

"Hmm?" she answered and shyly leant her head on his shoulder.

Kira stopped them in the middle of the dance floor and she moved back to look at him with curiosity. "Flay, you should go find Sai. He has been gone for a long while. You shouldn't be dancing with me for so many turns - it's not proper.

Flay flushed hotly and pouted, "I am my own person! I'm not married yet so I can dance with whomever I want!"

"Flay, please be more understanding," he asked as dancing couples were forced to move around their stationary form. "You have placed far too much attention on me that even Sai noticed. He is my friend and I do not want to hurt him."

Flay frowned and he blinked as she reached and pick up one of his hands with both of hers. "Is it so wrong for me to try and find my happiest future?"

Kira watched her carefully before asking, "and you think you will be happiest with me?"

She smiled and gently kissed his fingertips, "yes. I do believe I will be happiest with you."

He softened and Flay's eyes beamed with victory and happiness. She tried to pull them back into the dance once more but Kira's hands politely snapped away from her. When she looked back into his eyes again she found them determined and knew she had lost. "Flay, you're making a mistake. I care for you, yes. I find you attractive, yes. But I don't love you like that."

"You can learn to," she whispered but she knew she was defeated.

_I can't because I think I love somebody else already_, Kira's mind thought and an image of a girl with pink hair and baby blue eyes flashed into his mind for an instant.

He bit his lip and stared at the clock - minutes to midnight. Sai had been gone for nearly two hours. "I'll go find Sai and explain everything."

And he left her in the middle of the ballroom.

* * *

Athrun didn't know how it happened but the green dressed princess seems adamant in dancing with him. Songs and dances ended and often she had changed partners but somehow or the other he always ended up dragged to the dance-floor by her hand no matter where he was in the ballroom.

It was crazy because she wasn't even aware of it. Her attention was only on her little brother, Prince Kira and she never even looked at her partner once.

Perhaps fate was playing tricks on them. How else could he end up with her in his arms a dozen times already?

The princess watched like a hawk as her brother stopped his dancing and had a seemingly serious talk with that redhead he was constantly partnered with. A few minutes later, he stalked off and the girl left behind adopted a disappointed expression.

Princess Cagalli Yula Athha promptly broke into all smiles and looked like she was having a field day, which only prompted Athrun to be even more curious.

Where did the prince go?

The song ended and the crazy princess politely excused herself to finally give her feet some rest. Athrun's eyes followed her as she walked away and then turned on his heel to go after the prince.

* * *

His hands and necklace must have been inch away from her throat when Zephany finally caught the decorative clocks in the garden - minutes to midnight!

Her eyes widened and he paused to look at her curiously.

"I-I…" she stuttered out and he listened. It was the first time he heard her voice after all. "I have to go."

"Pardon?" he asked wondering if he heard her correctly but it seemed like he had as she was in front of him one-second and pushing past him the next.

"Wait!" he cried and tried to grab her hand, arm, wrist, dress, anything!

She halted for a second and glanced at him then the clock again.

"Are you in a hurry? I could get you a carriage. I could-" he quickly suggested. Anything to keep her a bit longer and…

She curtseyed at him and muttered an apology before running.

"Wait!" he tried again and this time caught hold of the extravagantly long ribbon that was tied in a decorative bow on her left arm. It came off immediately and she was gone.

Without thinking, he chased after her.

* * *

Kira paused by a suit of armour for a brief second to whip off his mask. Somebody was following him and experience told him it wasn't a hopeful young lady seeking his attention. His stalker was good at what he did and followed with skill and practice.

He had territorial advantage here though. He had been in the castle all his life and knew every nook and cranny - thanks to years of playing hide and seek with his sister.

He walked on; careful to put on the appearance of not knowing he was followed. He turned a corner and walked into the corridor that opened to the gardens.

He sensed his stalker following him and once he was sure the stranger was away from the corner and fully in the straight corridor, Kira pounced.

He spun around sharply and his armour flashed on him faster than one could blink. Within one second, he shot down the corridor and caught his follower's collar in one hand whilst pointing an armourized combat knife at the person's throat with his other hand.

Athrun first instincts were to armourize himself and attack the young prince but thankfully his brain took over and stilled his body instead. It would ruin his mission completely if he acted rashly and exposed his identity so soon in the game.

So he resorted to glaring at the young prince and pulling his body into a defensive posture. If Prince Kira was to truly skewer him there and then, he wasn't going to stand there and let him do it. No, the minute the prince moved his blade, he'll take action but until then he commanded his body not to reflexively pull out his red armour.

There were footsteps and they both started.

Thinking it was his stalker's accomplice approaching from the garden to save the man in his hands, Kira didn't even blink as the new entrant crashed into him. His armour was surprised to find no attack or resistance. It connected with a soft body. His hand dropped his knife and caught the ally's throat. The captive squeaked and spluttered and gasped very…. Girlishly?

Both young men turned to stare in surprise at the young woman gasping in Kira's grasp with her eyes wide in fear.

Their surprise went further when the castle clock chimed midnight and the pink formal dress the girl was wearing faded from sight to reveal work-worn apprentice clothing.

Armour fading was a common sight to them both but clothes fading? This was something new.

"Wait!" a voice shouted from the direction the girl ran from.

Sai.

Mind working quickly, Kira switched his hold of the girl to her arm and hauled both the young man and her to a nearby closet before shoving them both in and slamming it shut.

He flashed away his armour just in time for Sai to appear from the garden, panting, confused and trailing a long pink ribbon. His eyes brightened when he saw Kira. "Kira, have you seen a girl in pink running by here?"

Suspicion on the girl's identity still running very high, Kira's instant reply was to deny sighting her in hopes to keep his friend safe. "No, I haven't."

Sai's face positively drooped and Kira wondered if he did the right thing or not.

"I lost her then…" Sai said in a depressive tone.

He needed to distract his friend elsewhere so he could turn his mind back on the two strangers he currently have trapped in the closet. "I thought I saw something running in the direction of the fountain though."

Straight away, Sai's face lit up and hope came flooding back to his eyes. "Thanks!" And he ran off.

Kira counted to one minute before he cautiously opened the closet door to reveal a wary young man with a black mask and a scared young woman with a pink ball cradled to her chest as if it could save her.

"Follow me," he ordered and started walking.

The young man in the black suit raised an eyebrow behind the mask.

"Make one wrong move and I will kill you," the prince said in a tone that clearly stated that he can and would do what he just said.

Scared, the girl quickly followed and the young man carefully went after her.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN

* * *

**Vacation was great (I went to Turkey for those who are curious). It was very hot and I suffered from heat rash so I spent practically the entire time running from shade to shade and dodging the sun like a plague. But apart from that, great fun. Again, I thank you all for your patience.**

**Anonymous**: I thank you for reading and for leaving such a sweet and kind review. You flatter me with your words (blushes). I've tried my best with the characters and am glad you find them not too OOC. Character interaction is important and I could not see how a story could work properly without it. Many thanks.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	12. Prince and the Pauper

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

**Firstly I shall apologise for all the typos and possibly numerous errors throughout this chapter. I have yet to correct them all. Many apologies.**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve – Prince and the Pauper**

* * *

Kira took them to a room that was far removed from the main parts of the castle.

"Sit," he said, waving a hand at the scattering of chairs available in the room.

Hesitantly, the girl with the pink ball obeyed and but the young man in the suit opted to stand with his back against the wall. Kira narrowed his eyes on the man but focused his attention on the girl – marking her fear for him as an easier target.

"What is that in your hand?" He asked as he positioned himself in front of the door.

The girl jumped in fear when he addressed her and tremblingly held out the pink ball.

"Haro!" the ball squeaked and both the young men's eyes widened in recognition. Who is this girl that possesses a Haro?

Haros are sacred objects that appeared after one of the Eternal Fairy's gift dreams. The dreamer will wake up from their sleep and find a Haro rolling or stuck under their bodies, bed or pillow. It disappeared a few seconds after being witnessed though. Why wasn't this one disappearing?

"Who are you and where did you get this?" Kira demanded more than asked.

The girl wondered if the Haro was something she was not meant to have. "I found it in the Royal Forge's basement storage."

"Basement? Royal Forge? You work in the forge?" Kira asked and ran through his memories in search for a girl blacksmith.

The girl blushed. "I'm one of the apprentices, Zephany Nix, your highness."

Kira blinked. Nix? Was Nix not a boy? He shook his head. He'll figure that out later but now…

Images of pink hair and an angelic singing voice invade his thoughts. She held a Haro, didn't she? It was a pink one like this one here, right?

He forcefully shattered his thought process and turned to the other young man in the room. "And you?"

The navy-haired young man pulled off his black sequined mask. "I'm called Alex Dino and am one of the men hired for the extra guards and security for tonight."

"You are out of armour and uniform," Kira quickly pointed out suspiciously.

* * *

Athrun reacted quickly and bowed at the prince in what he hopes was an apologetic manner before he continued his lies. "There are a few of us that are posing as guests."

* * *

Kira nodded. It was understandable. Having an appearance of too many guards will make guests nervous and undercover guards are subtler when catching troublemakers than a horde of guards charging through – which will, without a doubt, be more destructive to the party mood.

"You were dancing with my sister," Kira continued.

"The princess pulled me onto the dance-floor before I could stop her. My apologies, your highness."

Kira waved off the apology, "And your reason for following me?"

"For your protection, your highness. It is unwise to go about the castle along especially when there are so many guests of unknown intent in the castle."

He was unsure whether to believe the navy-haired man or not but he could not fault the man's words. On a normal day, he would have still been highly suspicious of the young man but tonight his attention was caught on the pink Haro in the girl's hands.

"Your Haro," Kira said as his eyes turned back to the pink ball. "What is it? A toy? An artefact? An ornament?" His fingers reached forward to touch the thing and were barely an inch near the ball when the girl squeaked and jumped in her seat fearfully.

His eyebrows knitted together to form a frown. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Nix hugged the ball to her chest. "I'm sorry for coming uninvited. I only wanted to come to the party. I'm sorry."

"You are forgiven. Now, the Haro?" he reached out for the item again.

Nix stared down at the ball and to the boys' confusion, started talking to it, "Lacus, can I…?"

"Haro!" The Haro leapt from her hands and bounced energetically on the stone floor twice before jumping into the prince's hands.

Kira blinked. So, it has a life of its own?

Stuttering slightly, Nix started to talk, "I found it in storage and when I was polishing it, Lacus came out."

"Lacus?" Kira questioned and spotted a smudge on the pink ball. Without thinking, he took his sleeve and rubbed at it.

FLASH

Alex Dino and Kira jumped in surprise as pink glitter exploded from the Haro. A girlish chuckle was heard and they stare at the pink glittery cloud warily.

* * *

Zephany shifted herself over to clutch Lacus's dress nervously. "Lacus…"

The pink-haired genie smiled at her, "its fine. I heard everything."

Prince Kira switched his gaze between Lacus and Zephany before asking, "Who are you?"

Lacus curtsey beautifully and Zephany wondered how the two other room occupants could not be awed by the genie. "I am Lacus Clyne, genie of this Haro."

"CLYNE?" both young men gasped aloud.

"You're a member of the Clyne? You're a magical being?" the prince asked in wonder.

They both frowned though and Alex Dino remarked, "You don't look like the fairy of Clyne."

Lacus's tinkling laughter was heard throughout the chamber, whilst Zephany grew confused. The genie laid a hand on the mage's shoulder, "there are some who received the fairy's gift and managed to see her face."

"Oh." Zephany blushed for she wasn't fortunate enough to see the fairy's face when she received her metal magic.

"Though… I believe the reason his highness and his friend could not see me is because of another reason," said Lacus and gently sat herself down on one of the chairs available, her Haro rolled across the floor and bounced to her lap.

"I am a Clyne, yes but a genie is not my given duty. I was sealed into the Haro and forced by its rules to become a genie by a witch. Thus since it was a magic-user that sealed me, only a magic user could see my true form. Others will only see a cloud of pink smoke and glitter, correct?"

The two men slowly nodded suspiciously.

"Very well, shall I proceed with my genie duties then?" Lacus said and turned to focus solely on the prince. "Prince Kira, I believe? You have rubbed my Haro and as the genie of this Haro I can now grant you three wishes. What do you wish for?"

* * *

Kira's mind clicked back to life from the distraction the genie's appearance caused. His wish? Was it fate? Just when he was thinking of leaving Orb for a while but was worried of the effect it might cause for the kingdom to be missing a prince, a genie comes along and grants him a wish.

"There are rules to the wishes. Firstly, I cannot kill anyone with my wishes nor can I make people fall in love with another. I can't make the dead come back alive and I can allow no more than three wishes." Lacus explained as if she had said the same words a million times already.

"So I could wish to leave Orb?" Kira tried.

"Yes if that is what you wish though you'll have to be careful with your wording else you might leave Orb forever," Lacus advised.

* * *

This was news for Athrun. A prince wanting to leave his country? Whatever for?

"What of your duties, your highness?" The mage girl squeaked.

Nevertheless, with the prince out of the way, it made it one step easier for him to gather his information. So Athrun suggested a logical answer, "if someone could take over his duties then perhaps he may leave. Perhaps the princess…"

"No!" was the prince's immediate reply. "No, not Cagalli. She'll try and stop me."

"May I pose a suggestion?" the pink glitter cloud asked. Obviously, this genie was much too kind as others could have easily taken advantage of the wisher and not offer advice of any sort.

"You may."

"I could cast an illusion of yourself over a willing volunteer until your return. The illusion will give the volunteer the appearance and voice of your highness but allows people to see him as himself when they know of his identity and that he wills it to be shown."

"Any volunteer?"

The pink glitter cloud chuckled and gave an impression that the genie was shaking her head with mild amusement. "No, he will have to be near enough the same build as yourself and near enough the same kind of aura."

The possibility of running away welled up within the prince and hope shined from his eyes. "Where can I find such a person?"

The genie chuckled again, "why, there's one standing right beside you."

And all eyes landed on Athrun.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWELVE

* * *

**Wild Eagle 5098**: Thank you for the review. It makes encourages me greatly to write. You are too kind.

**CriTicAl**: I sincerely HOPE I'm getting better. I really do try. Many thanks for the review

**KiKi Hayashi**


	13. Rapunzel

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

**Not much Kira and Athrun's side of the story in this chapter. But we do have moody Yzak and love-struck Dearka…(gets pummelled by rotten tomatoes)**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen – Rapunzel**

* * *

Shiho had lost track of the hours she spent in cell. A day? Two? More? She couldn't remember. She just remembered sleeping a lot to let her body recover from the slave drugs and occasionally getting up to use the chamber pot before collapsing into a sleep again.

Did her captor feed her? Did she eat anything? She couldn't remember.

But she was awake now and hungry. She could feel her mind collecting itself together better than it had for days and though her limbs are weak she was no longer weary.

Her indigo eyes peered out the window. Noon maybe? She looked at her cell door and saw nothing left there for her. Was her captor intending for her to starve?

Shiho survival skills shot to the front of her mind and she tried to remember one that included lock picking of any sort. They were vague and she definitely needed to relearn them at some point.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and leant against the wall. She'll wait, she decided. She didn't know how strong her captor was and it would be foolish and a waste of strength to escape her cell only to be dumped back in here again.

* * *

Shiho didn't have to wait long… well if you count a three hour wait not being long. She heard the man's muttering and footsteps before he even reached the top of the stairs.

He flung the door open and she lifted an eyebrow. He was young. She couldn't remember much of him when he threw her in here, so his youth hit her as a surprise.

There was an angry scar across his face and he looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"You!" he all but snapped and she got to her feet. He was taller than her as well and she wondered if her body was strong enough to push past him and escape.

His teeth clenched, "Do you have any idea what you have done?"

"Enlighten me," she said with a faint shrug.

He glared at her for a full minute before growling and reaching up to ruffle his silver bangs in frustration. "Stupid woman."

Strangely enough, his growl pricked something in her memory and she frowned. It sounded familiar but she hadn't the slightest idea what it was.

"Fine. I'll tell you," he grumbled as if she had just begged him to disclose the information. "You screwed up my magic circle and now it's backfired and put a stupid force-field about the entire estate! Months of hard work! Ruined!"

Shiho listened and stored the words away in the drawers of her mind for future use. "Magic circle? Are you a magic user?"

He threw her a nasty glare, "you're testing my temper. I've stayed up for two nights working non-stop to fix this mess and am not in the greatest mood."

And he wasn't lying when he said that either. The air crackled with unseen magic as if he could barely hold it all at bay and she shivered slightly.

"I'm the wizard of this castle," he finally explained as he tried to tame the air about him. "You messed up my circle and you're going to help me fix it."

She blinked at him and his blue eyes blinked straight back. Fix it? Did she look capable of magic?

Again she placed that into storage for later use and chose a more sensible answer, "You're going to keep me here as a prisoner?"

"Do I look like I have a choice?" he demanded ad the air crackled one last time before he brought his hands up and pressed his fingers to his temples. "Fine, yes, you're trapped. You're my prisoner. Happy? And as my prisoner, I am going to use you as I please. You're going to help me and pull your own weight in this blasted castle until I decide to let you go."

"Very well," She replied and he glared at her. Why on earth was he so angry for? She made his job easy for him! He could have dealt with a sobbing and begging mess, which was much more frustrating but instead he got the better deal and dealt with an accepting and calm prisoner instead.

Should she be a sobbing a crying mess instead then? She pictured herself briefly on her knees with tears and snot running like waterfalls down her face. Nope, total kill of her personality so he'll have accepting and calm Shiho instead.

"Follow me," he ordered and marched out of the cell without waiting for her.

She smirked; he was like a beast – demanding, temperamental and cold.

Shiho hobbled along slowly and bit back winces as pain shot up from her wounded ankles. She had forgotten about them. He had no mercy though and stomped angrily down the stairs.

She followed as quickly as she could but after a minute or two she had lost sight of his form entirely and could only follow his cloak ends as they disappeared round corners.

Tiredly and after what seemed like endless hallways, she managed to find him standing before a door.

"Your room," he said moodily, "the kitchen is down those stairs – just follow the roses."

"Roses?" she asked and finally allowing herself to wince as the pain throbbed like her ankles had their own heartbeat. "Where?"

"Here." He slammed his palm against the wall to the right of her bedroom door.

A second later, she stared in fascination as greens lines seem to grow themselves out from his palm. They were within the wall though or more like on the wall, like they were painted on.

It took two more seconds for her to realise they were not simply lines but coils of stems.

She watched as they grew and painted themselves magically to the wall, sprouting leaves and thorns, growing buds and blooming to blood red flowers each the size of her palm.

They grew at an astonishing rate, spread horizontally to the right and went down the hallway like a beeline before disappearing round a corner where she presumed the stairs were.

Moments later, the wizard withdrew his hand and stared at her as if saying, 'Happy?' in his usual grumpy tone.

She nodded and he stomped off like some moody teenager shouting as he left, "If I see you anywhere else apart from your room, this hallway and the kitchen. I will throw you back into the cell!"

She shrugged. She had no intention to leave until she was rested enough to escape him anyway.

* * *

Even though he was so enthusiastic to leave his kingdom, the prince still took several hours to decide and all of which Athrun had been forced to remain in the tower room.

The prince had escorted the young girl mage out of the castle personally, most possibly through the less used exits to minimise the risk of being discovered.

By the time his highness came back, Athrun had concluded there were thirty rows of bricks in the wall and lost count of the pieces of glass for the stained window. He had also found out that his bangs had a few split-ends whilst those few he could see from the rest of his head had none. Whilst on the topic of his head, he also mentally rewrote the report in his head more than a dozen times.

Just as Athrun was wondering if he should retry counting the stain glass window again, the prince entered with the pink Haro in his hands.

"Alex Dino, I have accepted my wish and its conditions and you are now my imposter."

* * *

The stairs proved too delicate for a normal sized human being (girl or not) and wouldn't withstand the girl's weight. Dearka sat on the stone floor and brainstormed whilst the girl tried to get that insane mess of chestnut sea that was her hair into some sort of order.

She had very nice eyes. Dearka noted. Blue and… very pretty. He wondered what she would look like if she smiled.

He smacked his own woodenhead at his thoughts. He shouldn't be thinking about her like that! Stop being a womanizer, Dearka!

She chuckled at him and he missed the smile because when he turned around she quickly hid it. Who would trap a cute girl like her in the castle?

She said that she was trapped here many years ago though she seemed to have a lot of difficulty saying her name. She struggled for minutes upon minutes before she finally managed a single word – Milly.

She said it wasn't her proper name but she seemed unable to say her true name at all. The same happened when he tried to ask her of her past and why she was trapped. They finally surmised that she was cursed with a spell that forbade her from speaking of the past.

He heard a huff behind him and turned about to find the girl huffing slightly in frustration.

"What's wrong?" he asked and got to his wooden feet unsteadily.

"My hair," Milly said and kicked at a pile of chestnut locks by her feet. "It's so long and heavy! I never had this much long hair before!"

She'll look cute with short hair, Dearka thought and smacked himself again. Must be the lack of girls in his puppet life as she suddenly seemed sweeter by the minute. Well the only company he had for the past years were Yzak, animals, tress, Yzak, birds…um… and Yzak.

Yup, definitely a severe lacking of girls in his life.

Maybe he should thank Yzak this time. If he hadn't sent Dearka to gather ingredients, he wouldn't have met a girl.

Ingredients…

The puppet looked down at his bag then up at the girl's hair before finally resting on the stairs outside the room.

"Milly?" he asked as he extracted his dagger to which the girl gazed suspiciously at. "Would you like a haircut?"

* * *

It took ages for them to finally get Milly's sea of hair ready for climbing since braiding was obviously not Dearka's forte. Thankfully it was Milly's so, though it took ages, they finally managed to get her feet to touch the ground floor after they used the braided hair as a climbing rope.

She was a frail creature though and he blamed the magic trap. She said she had been trapped for years so her body must be starved of energy.

Dearka left Milly on the tower's doorstep and went to the orchard she remembered from her memories. He had doubt that the orchard will be there since the thorns were still present.

Many minutes later he came back laden with as much fruit as he could carry and question marks floating about his head - the garden was choked with thorns yet the orchard wasn't affected?

"Where do we go now?" She asked as she bit into an apple.

"I need to return to my friend, you can come with me if you like," he offered unless there's somewhere you would like to go."

Milly thought for a while, "I do… but I don't think I can get there. Can you help me?"

How was he to resist those eyes?

"Of course."

* * *

END OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN

* * *

**Rocy**: I try to make the titles fit though sometimes it seems impossible. Thanks for the review.

**Dim5098**: Thanks. Your words flatter me. I do try my best.

**CriTicAl**: (scratches head) I have… improvement? (squints) um… that matter aside, please stay alive a bit longer. I'm sorry the cliffie isn't really resolved in this chapter but my fingers bribed my brain again and Yzak and Dearka squeezed in demanding attention.

**Moi**: Ooo I never thought of the 'Shinn screaming in for his head' bit. (evil eyes now) that's a pretty good idea!

**KiKi Hayashi**


	14. Strangers Like Me

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen – Strangers Like Me**

* * *

"Kira!" Flay called as she spotted him in the corridor. The prince didn't get a chance to escape before he was cornered by the Natural.

"Flay…" he greeted awkwardly.

She blushed and fingered the ends of her sleeves nervously. "You've…you've been avoiding me."

"I have?"

"The ball… that night. Ever since that night, I've tried to talk to you but you always seem occupied," she said and smiled shyly up at him. "I've lost haven't I?"

Kira blinked at her genuinely confused.

"Was I too direct? Was it something you didn't like? My hair? My attitude? The way I talk?" Flay blurted out in a rush. "Can you truly not reconsider?"

"I…"

The clock chimed and Kira hurriedly apologised before saying there was somewhere he was meant to be right now.

"Excuse me, Flay," he managed and left her staring at his back with disappointment evident in her face.

* * *

Athrun frowned deeply and huffed slightly as Kira laughed at him. "It was not funny, your highness!"

"Yes, I apologise," Kira said and tried to stifle his chuckles. "If even Flay could not tell you from me then that means the illusion is working perfectly."

"Your highness, please don't think I'm meddlesome in your business but you cannot use me as a way of running away from Lady Allstar much longer. You should sort out this mess before you leave." Athrun suggested.

Kira stopped his laughing and peered at him thoughtfully. "True, I should."

"May I know what exactly happened between you and the lady?" the spy asked carefully.

The real prince sighed, "What did you think happened?"

"She was chasing after you and you rejected her at the birthday ball." Athrun paused and wondered if it was safe to continue. He did so anyway, "and it seemed like you didn't make your rejection firm enough else she wouldn't still be chasing after you like a lost puppy."

"Do NOT compare Flay to a dog."

Athrun quickly bowed, "I apologise, your highness. I was out of line."

Kira settled down and crossed his arms, "though I rejected her, she is still my friend. Would you like to know the reason I rejected her?"

The navy-haired lad shrugged, "if you wish to tell me though I hazard a guess and you were simply not interested in her in that way."

"True, I am not interested in her," Kira admitted, "but she was also the fiancée of my best friend, Lord Sai Argyle. If I had not rejected her advances she would have caused many problems between myself, Sai and all three of our families."

"But she loved you."

"No." Kira looked out the window, "No, she didn't. She is in love with the _idea_ that she's in love with me. She loved Sai before, yes. Now I'm not sure if she still does but she definitely does not love me. She loved the idea of loving me, if that makes any sense."

Athrun scratched his head and wondered how in all Eternal he got involved in all this.

Kira stepped away from the window and went for the door, "Come, we still have more to do and practice. You may be able to fool others but fooling my sister is a completely different matter. If you're not careful, she will and could kill you."

Athrun was sceptical. The princess? That blonde-haired girl that was dragging him about the dance floor at the ball? Kill him? Impossible. "Surely the princess could not be…"

"Do not underestimate Cagalli, I have seen her crack every single bone in an assassin's ribcage before and would not fancy what she would do to me if she found us out," Kira said ominously as he opened the door and entered the corridor behind it.

* * *

"Haro!" the pink sphere squeaked loudly and Zephany gasped before making a dive forward to snatch the ball from the air and hide it behind her back. As soon as she did that, everyone in the apprentice room looked up.

"It was a bird," she muttered, blushing like a red light before ducking quickly back into her little cubicle that served as her own desk.

Zephany pushed some notes aside and lifted her protective visor to frown at the Haro.

"You can't jump out like that, Lacus," explained Zephany quietly, "You'll catch the other apprentices' attention."

The Haro rolled about the tabletop in a cheerful manner before sliding onto her lap and bounce to the floor.

There was a flash of pink glitter under Zephany's desk and Lacus in her human form was soon huddled by her feet.

"Well I had to catch your attention in some way," Lacus whispered with a smile on her face as her Haro rolled onto her lap. "You were gazing off into a distance again."

Zephany blushed and whispered back, "I wasn't."

Lacus touched her master's knee, "Zephany, you're a girl. You're allowed to fantasize about your experience at the ball all you wish."

The mage blushed even more brightly and pulled her visor down to hide it. "I wasn't!"

"You were," Lacus teased.

"I wasn't…" Zephany trailed off suddenly and bolt upright from her seat, "Lord Argyle!"

"Aa, Nix. Would you by any chance know where Murdoch went? I was under the impression you work in his section," the young lord asked.

And underneath the mage's desk, her genie whispered 'You were' one last time before disappearing into her Haro.

* * *

It was not every day that one gets to see a duster dusting shelves by itself, a broom sweeping by itself and mop mopping all by itself as well.

It was also not every day that Shiho got to wrestle with a wardrobe that insisted on throwing a red cloak at her. She didn't understand, the wardrobe in her room was normal enough when she opened it in the morning to get dressed in something other than her ruined slave clothes. She had picked out a shirt, trousers and shoes all fine but when she tried to leave the room, something attacked her from behind.

She had spun about to find a fine looking scarlet cloak being the culprit. Confused, Shiho had picked up the item and left it back in the wardrobe. Two seconds later, as she was stepping out of the room again, the red cloak was thrown at her once more.

She was hungry and could probably eat a horse if she wanted to but the stupid wardrobe was being a mother-hen on her attire. Frustrated, she took the cloak in the end and found out she actually needed it.

The hallways were cold compared to her room and she was shivering until she pulled on the red garment, feeling entirely ridiculous. Who would wear such a thing indoors?

She placed her hand on the wall to the right of her room and followed the roses the wizard left her. She knew the way to the kitchens well enough now but it was a comfort to trace the trail with her hands because though the castle had the occasional moving objects, it lacked warmth.

The past few days she had been here, she had learnt that the wizard, Yzak, was the only one who lived here and all the objects she had seen occasionally working to keep the place clean were as they looked – objects.

They were not enchanted things with souls nor were they servants cursed in the form of an item. Yzak had simply cast a spell on them to keep parts of the castle clean and that was exactly what they do. The duster dusts, the mop mops and the broom sweeps. They don't talk to her, they don't try to communicate with her and they wouldn't help her escape.

Yes, Shiho planned to escape. Yzak had said something about a force-field about the estate but she believed him not. She had seen for herself, there was nothing there at the walls apart from the walls themselves and though she may not have seen the main entrance yet, she had determined not to use it. She will use the hole she came into this wretched place by.

She felt slightly warmer as soon as she pushed the kitchen door open and happily took off her cloak as the sight of the kitchen's warm fire greeted her alongside the knowledge of a full pantry.

The castle was strange. Its pantries were always full even though she could have been certain she used up all the milk the day before, she'll always open the door and find more there. Yzak didn't like to be around much but when she did catch him once, he had said the pantry was designed to bring 'lost' food items here.

Have you ever wondered what happened to that extra loaf of bread you bought but cannot find? Or that batch of eggs you were sure your chicken laid? Well, the castle warped them here. It never takes big things - perhaps one egg from each new batch and a loaf or two from somewhere else.

She didn't believe him about that either until she spotted an iced bun that she was very sure only the corner shop of her neighbourhood in ZAFT did. She believed him then but Shiho still didn't believe his force-field theory. If there was such a thing then surely a wizard of his strength could have shattered it easily.

Thus Shiho didn't believe him.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN

* * *

**Yeah, nothing much happened. Sorry.**

**KiKi Hayashi**


	15. Always stay in here, Away in here

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen – Always stay in here, away in here**

* * *

Shiho had grown quite fond of the red cloak her magic wardrobe insisted she wore. It certainly kept her warmer since Yzak had officially announced he screwed up another spell to break the estate's barrier and now the castle's heating spells have failed completely.

She pulled the cloak more snugly around her thin shoulders and cautiously opened the door. It was many hours past midnight and she was sure the wizard was in bed.

She clutched the bag of food provision she stole from the kitchen to her chest and quietly snuck out of the room.

She closed her bedroom door as soundlessly as possible and waited patiently for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the hallway.

A few minutes later, Shiho slowly crept her way to the kitchen.

Yzak wasn't asleep though, she noted, but working into the night on his spells. He stomped out of the kitchen angrily and she could barely hide herself in time as he marched past, biting on a piece of bread.

"Stupid spells!" he muttered darkly and loudly as he passed by her hiding spot.

She was surprised to say the least as he continued to stalk down the hall – she had expected a wizard of his calibre to be able to sense her, even in hiding.

Perhaps he was tired, after all he had worked like crazy over spells and each time she caught sight of him in the past few days, he seemed more and more haggard and tired.

She shrugged and adjusted her cloak once more before sneaking to the kitchen. The door to the gardens was unlocked and she allowed herself out.

The cold fresh air hit her on the face like a slap. It was cold but it was refreshing at the same time and she breathed in freedom for the first time in days.

* * *

Zephany held the Haro into the air and inspected it against the light. "Do you have to go tomorrow, Lacus?"

"The prince wanted me to accompany him," Lacus replied as she eyed the Haro in the mage's hands, "You missed a spot under the left flap."

Zephany quickly pulled the pink sphere back and worked on said spot until it gleamed like the rest of its body.

"I can stay with you," Lacus started and Zephany beamed at her.

"Really?"

"If you can think of your second wish."

The mage frowned and scratched at her brown locks. Lacus reached over and tucked the mage's long bangs behind her ear in a sisterly fashion. "You hair is nice that way, you should stop hiding it underneath your work bandanna."

Zephany wrinkled her nose and un-tucked the bangs. "Others find my hairstyle strange."

Lacus laughed at her, "I think it's sweet and practical. You kept the back boyishly short so you can endure the heat of the forges, but it gets progressively longer as it reaches your face so it keeps your femininity present."

Lacus gazed out the window. "It's late, Zephany. You should go to bed especially because you have an early morning shift tomorrow."

Zephany frowned again and Lacus teased that she would get wrinkles if she frowned too much.

The genie settled on her master's bed, "your second wish?"

"I don't have one yet," was Zephany's answer as she went back to polishing the Haro in her hands.

Lacus leant back and looked up to the ceiling with eyes that seemed to be staring past it and to the sky itself. "Then the prince needs me more than you…"

* * *

The moon was almost full and there were hardly any clouds so Shiho could find her entire way through the garden by the moonlight alone. Good as she was sure Yzak would have seen the light from a lantern if she took one.

The grass under her boots was also soft and well kept so the sounds of her footsteps were absorbed. She paused beside a hedge and turned to the castle.

It was a very pretty castle and, even from the outside, one could tell that it was made of a complex maze of corridors and would require a very detailed map to navigate. She wondered why Yzak needed such a castle. He did not seem the type to want complex passageways and would much prefer a simpler layout… at least judging from the amount he grumbles about the corridors' design and layout.

Of course, for all Shiho knew, Yzak might be one for mazes instead. After all, she never spent a lot of time with him – in fact, she could count all the times she had seen him in her entire stay on one hand.

She turned back to the wall and was glad to see that she was near her hedgehog hole.

"So this was where you came in by…" an amused voice said behind her.

Shiho whirled around, her hand reached to her belt and extracted a kitchen blade, sharpen to a fine line and sharp enough to cut skin cleanly.

She had fully expected him to throw a magic attack at her and had prepared her body to dodge the fireballs, lightning shock, wind, magic barrier or whatever it may be.

But he was faster, stronger and did something she least expected.

The next thing Shiho knew was that her weapon-less hand was behind her back held tightly by his and her weapon hand locked in such a way that her own blade was touching her own throat instead of his.

"ZAFT's soldiers had fallen in skill, I see," Yzak noted and she growled at him.

"How did you know…"

"I know many things, Hahnenfuss," the wizard replied, "Just because I'm a wizard does not mean I am physically unskilled in hand-to-hand combat. If I had trained you, you would have known that."

"Who are you?" she was stalling for time. They both knew it. She was trying to find a way out of this situation and purposefully making him answer her questions in hopes to distract him.

"Hmph," he finally said and freed her, "Your distraction techniques don't work on me and who I am or was matters you not."

She glared at him with her violet eyes and raised her kitchen blade in a defensive posture. Yzak smirked then folded his arms and eyed her critically.

"In comparison to your offensive skills, your defensive stance at least doesn't need much working on," he remarked before he returned her glare with one of his own. Shiho was suddenly very aware of the ugly scar that sat right across his face.

"You truly didn't expect me to not notice your presence when I walked past you in the hallway, did you?" he continued and looked up at the wall with suspicion. "You're escaping?"

"Yes." She held her blade tighter, prepared to fight her way out of here.

His eyes sparked with anger and she could feel the air about her crackle with unseen magic. "I've told you. You cannot go because there's a…"

"A force-field?" she interrupted, "I don't believe you. There is nothing there at all!"

"You just can't see it!"

"Or maybe it's because you want to keep me as your prisoner and slave."

He raised a silver eyebrow, "and why would I do that? I have all the items in the castle to do the work for me. What use do I have of a slave that doesn't obey me?"

He had a point but she was stubbornly going to escape anyway.

They glared at each other for a good long while before he sighed loudly and huffily turned his back to her. "Fine, go then! Let the force-field burn you to a crisp!"

The air still crackled with his power showing that he was still annoyed and angry and it suited his tone of voice, which sounded like it was mocking her and claiming she was not brave enough to continue her escape.

Her pride challenged now, Shiho turned to the hole and knelt before it.

The magic air crackled even louder around her as the wizard grew tenser.

"There is a force-field," he warned once again.

"I don't believe you." And she reached for the hole.

Her hand barely went past the entrance of the hole when she hit a hard invisible barrier.

For a second she was confused and then she knew Yzak was correct all along but she didn't even get to let that thought flit across her mind when shocks like miniature lightning sparked through her body.

Yzak swore loudly.

And Shiho?

Shiho screamed.

Millions of fire like sensations shot through her nerves and she couldn't draw her hand from the invisible barrier. She had never experienced anything that made her feel like her death was certain. This did though.

It felt like eternity and she was sure millions upon millions of magical power had fired through her body already when Yzak clamped his hands on her shoulders.

He muttered something and pulled her free from the barrier.

Convulsing and numb with pain, Shiho watched as he held her head in his hands and pressed his own forehead against hers.

She coughed, splattering his face inelegantly with spit and felt like all the burning magic, that was coursing through her still, erupted from her mouth and into the wizard's body.

Instantly the pain was gone and her body felt drained.

"I told you there was a forcefield!" he shouted at her and turned to the barrier. "Oh fairy of Clyne! You made it turn crazy now!"

"What?" she managed to whisper, fighting the urge to curl up and vomit. She turned her head enough to see the barrier take on a white colouration. It pulsed and with each pulse a trail of magic crackled across its surface.

"Run!" Yzak commanded and she stared at him with a look that plainly asked how in Eternal was she going to run when she's in this state. Her limbs don't even obey her, they felt like jelly and she was pretty sure her hands and feet still jerked from non-existent electric shocks every few seconds.

She watched as Yzak gathered magic into his palms, so much that it crackled and shone brightly with power.

"Run!" he shouted once more and her eyes widened as he slammed his hands onto the pulsing barrier that suddenly shot towards them.

She didn't know how she summoned the strength or energy but she eventually crawled to her feet and stumbled the fastest she could back towards the castle.

She barely made ten steps when she heard a loud explosion behind her followed by the silver-haired wizard's violent cursing.

She was thrown forward by the explosion and then suddenly she was picked up.

Yzak grunted and scooped her up into his arms before running like death was on their tail.

Her long brown hair trailed behind them as he sprinted across the gardens and the ends of her strands crackled and singed from magical energy. The barrier was chasing them.

Yzak shouted something – something she couldn't recognise and she saw the kitchen door fly open before they were even near it.

The white barrier sizzled and a burnt smell wafted through the air - the ends of Yzak's robes had caught fire.

The wizard swore again and threw both of them through the doorway. He screamed something again in a language she didn't know and the door slam close behind her.

They landed on the cold stone floor of the kitchen with Yzak heaving and panting.

Seconds later, he muttered something and the fires on his robes put themselves out.

"Great, now we can't go outside," Yzak finally complained as he closed his eyes to control his heavy breathing. "It's all your fault, Hahnenfuss."

* * *

END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN

* * *

**CriTicAl**: Scary Cagalli is cool though!

IMPORTANT NOTE: It pains me to say this but I will have postpone next week's update to the week after. Reason? This author is not very smart and is not skilled enough to keep up with the speed of writing necessary for putting out these chapters on a weekly basis. I'll have to take a week's break to pull myself back ahead a little in hopes to make writing this easier. Many apologies to all readers.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	16. We were strangers

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny, Disney or Anastacia. They belong to their rightful owners. **

**Multi-Pairings include: Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.**

**Thank you for waiting, everyone.**

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen – We were strangers, Starting out on a journey**

* * *

Dearka stared at the large wooden doors and the back at Milly with huge disbelieving eyes. "You want me to move that?!"

He eyed it quickly and knew straight away without trying that a wooden puppet like him would not be able to move it a millimetre much less enough for the girl to slip through.

The brunette chuckled and bent down to pick up the puppet. "No, Dearka, there's a key for the small door in that little hole in the wall there."

The puppet's eyes followed her pointing finger and caught sight of a small hole in the wall, so cleverly made that it looked like a chip or crack made by the erosion of the stones. He then turned to peer at the gigantic wooden door again and this time, noticed the small door hidden within it.

Milly lifted her arms and Dearka stood steadily against her hands to reach into the little hole high above.

He found the key in seconds and neatly unlocked the door.

"Dearka? Do you know where to go?" Milly asked uncertainly as she set him on the floor and picked up the ends of her dress to walk.

"Of course!" Dearka puffed loudly and pranced forward into the forest. He stuck his dagger into the soil and sighed in relief and satisfaction when not a single ounce of magic poured from it.

Being in the walled garden was downright creepy and it was a miracle he managed to find a path with the least thorn bushes for Milly to go through. Milly was patient though and he adored her more for it even though he got her dress torn and half shredded from the odd thorns he couldn't reach to cut.

"Dearka… I'm not feeling very well…" Milly whispered.

"What?" Dearka turned around and blinked as the girl who he was sure was right behind him wasn't.

"Milly?"

Silence.

"Milly?"

She wasn't there at all. She… disappeared.

"Milly?"

There was a squeak, "Dearka?"

"Milly?! Where are you?!" he shouted as he threw his head about trying to find the brunette. "Milly?!"

There was another squeak. "I'm here!"

"Where?!"

"By the daisy!"

…

…

"What?" he questioned with his head cocked to one side.

"The daisy!"

Dearka laughed, "Very funny, Milly…"

"It's not funny!" she screamed and Dearka's eyes widened when the only daisy he could see in the spot started to shake.

"Oh… Fairy of Clyne…" he whispered and knelt before the tiny flower, "Milly?"

Milly crossed her arms and huffed cutely – she was the size of a human thumb.

It must have been five minute before Dearka was snapped out of his shock enough to start panicking. "Milly?! You're small!"

She frowned at him, "I know."

"Oh… um…What to do?!" he panicked without thinking, scooped her tiny form up and ran back into the walled garden.

THUD

Dearka could barely drop the tiny Milly in time as the instant she was through the doorway she returned to normal size and had he not dropped her, she would have gown big on top of him.

Milly winced loudly as she picked herself off the ground. "Ow."

Dearka stared at her with painted eyes wide in amazement so Milly smiled weakly at him, "What do we do now, Dearka?"

* * *

Athrun was woken up by a curt nod and he bolted upright in bed. Correction, he bolted upright in a royal bed.

It took him a few seconds for the memories to drive away his dreams and firmly settle back in place. Prince Kira was to leave this morning. From this point on, he was the officially imposter of his highness.

"Prince Kira?" the servant outside asked.

"Come in," Athrun said as normally as possible.

The servant came in and left a tray of breakfast on the table whilst Athrun raised a mental eyebrow. Do all princes get breakfast in their rooms?

"Anything else you would like, your highness?" the servant asked and he dismissed him.

His stomach grumbled and he realised he was hungry. Muttering silent curses to the prince who made him stay up late and forgo dinner to perfect his disguise, he crawled out of the bed and started on the breakfast.

He was pulling on Kira's royal garments when he caught sight of the mirror. It was amazing that the prince was coincidentally the right size as himself but all he could see in the mirror was Athrun Zala wearing the royal garments. He didn't look like the prince any one bit but the illusion to others was perfect. Not a single servant, subordinate or lord could tell it was merely an illusion over his original appearance.

With every obstacle save the last one successfully passed, the prince had announced he was ready to be Prince Kira.

There was still one last obstacle though…

KNOCK KNOCK

"Come in."

"Your highness, Princess Cagalli requested to speak with you."

And Athrun sighed, the last obstacle requested to speak with me…

* * *

Athrun took a deep breath before knocking the door of the princess's room. There was a scrabble of sounds on the other side and he wondered if he should take this chance to run away since he didn't want to face that crazy blonde princess that whirled him across the dance floor uncountable times at the ball.

He was about to knock again when the door was flung open and he was face to face with Princess Cagalli, heir of Orb.

"Kira! I told you! You don't have to knock!" she chided with a roll of her honey brown eyes.

He tried to pull a sheepish grin, "I didn't want to go in if you were indecent."

She waved the comment aside and left the door open as she walked back towards the centre of the room. Taking it as a cue for him to go in, he did.

The bedroom was only a slighter more feminine version of the prince's own and currently was filled with half a dozen maids all holding dresses, shoes and various accessories.

"Princess, please be sensible!" a maid scolded and he assumed right away that she was Cagalli's main personal maid since not many servants would talk back to their employers much less scold.

Cagalli scowled and waved them to fan out the dresses like a display store. "I don't understand why I have to wear such fancy dresses today!"

"Princess, Lord Yuuna is here to court you…"

"All the more reason to…"

"Princess," the main maid frowned and Cagalli sighed.

"Fine, Kira which one do you think will impress Yuuna?" the princess asked and Athrun was suddenly the centre of attention.

He failed to catch the meaningful glance the princess threw at him.

"That one, I think." Athrun answered as he pointed to a charming and attractive blue dress. He felt the princess's eyes on him and he turned to find her staring at him in disbelief.

"Kira, you're kidding…" she stuttered indignantly.

Athrun blinked back innocently, "What?"

She stared at him for a long time before her eyes sharpened and narrowed. "Marie, bring the maids out for a while please. I have something to discuss with my brother in private."

Somehow Athrun was under the suspicion that he was in trouble.

The maids exited quietly and the door slammed close.

"Cagalli?" he tried and she marched right up to him till they were only a few inches apart.

The next moment was one of the most embarrassing in his life because he was a soldier, he was a knight, he was a coordinator, he was a boy … and he was tackled to the ground and held in a headlock by a girl.

"You are not Kira." She hissed, her voice laced with poison and promised death, "Where is he?"

* * *

END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN

* * *

**CriTicAl**: realistic Yzak? (blushes) thanks… I was thinking he'll be the hardest to write but he turned out to be the easiest…

**KiKi Hayashi**


	17. Listen to your Heart

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen – Listen with your Heart**

* * *

Ordinary peasant clothing - Check

Food – Check

Disguise Strike like a normal horse – Check

Cloak – Check

Haro – to collect…

Kira paced the courtyard impatiently. Half his brain was worried about Alex Dino being found out and he could not but feel a little guilty for whatever his sister will do to the imposter once he's revealed – though he was also very glad that he was out of the country when that happened because Cagalli's wrath was plain scary sometimes.

The other half of his brain was formulating what he was going to do next. He had not much of a plan but he knew his main goal was to leave here. Yesterday, he had also established his secondary goal was to go to ZAFT and meet their princess who was rumoured to be identical to the Fairy of Clyne but his plans for how to get to ZAFT was non-existent.

"Your highness?" a voice squeaked somewhere to his left and he turned to see that apprentice mage girl dressed in complete metalwork outfit. Had he not knew who she was he would not have been capable to connect the two images of her as an apprentice and the girl she was at the ball.

"Good morning," Kira greeted and the girl hurried tried to bow or curtsey or whatever it was that she was attempting.

"Good morning, your highness," the mage answered shyly and nervously. Kira tried for a gentle smile, no matter how many times he had been here to see Lacus, Nix was still as timid as a scared rabbit around him.

"Is Lacus here?" he asked and the girl nodded before pulling the visor over her face up uncomfortably since she could not hide beneath it. Apparently, she was under the opinion that it was rude to hide her face from a prince.

The face markings all over her face still made him curious. He knew that the metal-mages all smeared layers of strong face paint on their faces to help their work. With each stroke of paint, the mage infused a bit of their magic so that it eased their work when actually performing the magic. Sort of like a magic circle. One could easily do without it to cast a spell but with it, the process was easier and less complex since everything is laid out rather than stored in the mind… at least that was what he heard.

Zephany pulled the pink Haro from her work uniform and with a sad frown handed it to him as if she didn't want to part with it. "Goodbye Lacus."

"Haro!" the pink sphere chirped with a flap of its ears.

"KIRAAAA!" a voice shouted like the owner was on a rampage.

And the prince cursed under his breath. Cagalli? Already?

He barely had time to roll Haro into his saddlebag and summon his armour when his sister's pink armoured form tackled into his back with such ferocity that they skid a few metres across the courtyard.

"Cagalli! If I didn't have armour, you could have shattered my spine!" he snapped, slightly irked that his departure was delayed and smoothly caught her arm to throw her effortlessly over his shoulder and into the air. Though deep inside, he was slightly touched that his sister knew and cared about him enough to instantly recognise Dino as an imposter.

His twin sailed through the air and landed like a graceful cat… or rather, an angry cat – since her honey brown eyes sparked with annoyance and anger. She spun around and marched up to him, vanishing her armour as she did and revealing that she was wearing a simple shirt and trousers underneath.

"Did you truly think I am foolish enough to not recognise my own twin brother from an imposter?"

"No, I didn't. I…" Kira started then tilted his head to one side, highly curious. He had trained his imposter well. "What gave him away?"

Cagalli glared at him, "He chose the blue dress."

"Oh… I see…" Kira answered. He knew he should have covered Cagalli's interests in Alex Dino's training.

When Cagalli asked for your opinion in a dress, always pick for the suit (it matters not whether it was available as a choice or not) and never the dress. Only pick a dress if forced (and that is AFTER the maids argued with Cagalli and ONLY when asked again) then one must choose for the dress, which has the most manoeuvrability.

Plus, if Kira remembered correctly, Cagalli hated the blue dress because it incredibly limited her leg movement. One would think that being the heir and possible target of assassination; Cagalli would have a wardrobe that gives her the best chance of escape or combat… obviously not.

It was at this time that Alex Dino stumbled in with a sheepish smirk on his face and bruises forming about his neck and collarbone. "Your highness, you have forgotten to mention about the princess's neck-snapping headlocks."

He cricked his neck slightly with a wince. "She also threatened me with a high heel pointed on my throat."

Kira raised an eyebrow, "that's a new one." And Cagalli clobbered him across the head with her fist.

"Why are you running away?" she demanded, "Why are you abandoning your duties to this imbecile?"

Alex Dino gaped at her indignantly – imbecile? Him?

Kira rubbed his skull where she hit him. "It's only temporarily, I'll be back."

Cagalli's eyes narrowed and to Zephany and Dino's surprise, promptly sat herself down on the dirt. "Explain."

Yes…. Orb's heir does not act very much like a princess at all…

The prince sighed and focused his eyes on his horse, Strike's, saddle. "I don't feel… comfortable here. In fact, ever since I got my armourization gift, I've felt as if there's something missing."

Cagalli scowled slightly and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "This better not be about Allstar."

"No!" Kira shouted, a little too quickly for Cagalli's liking. "I like Flay… but only as a friend. I don't like her in that way."

"Good, because if you're running away to avoid her, I'll personally boot her out of Orb."

Kira chuckled, had his sister heard a word he said?

"No, Cagalli, I want to go on a journey," he tried again.

The blonde raised an eyebrow and closed her eyes in thought. Meanwhile, Nix wondered if she should leave them but feared any movement from her would attract attention. Alex Dino on the other hand was trying to examine his bruises on his neck, using a well-polished shield as a mirror.

"You could have just said so," Cagalli finally answered and picked herself off the ground. Her hands brushed at her pants to dust the dirt from her bottom.

Kira gaped at her and Alex paused in his bruise examining to do the same thing. "You don't mind me…"

"Kira, I'm your sister," she said as if that explained everything and was slightly irked that it only confused the boys more. "I've been trapped in the kingdom as much as you have and I can tell from your constant sighing these days that you want to be out of here. I have those longings too, sometimes. But unlike you, I know and accepted my destiny as the heir of Orb. You, however, are lost."

Cagalli turned and glared at Dino, "at least you made my job easier by giving me an imposter."

Kira touched her shoulder and the twins stared at each other's faces, "I never knew I could tell you. I thought you wouldn't understand…"

Cagalli rolled her eyes, "boys… just because I act rough like a lad doesn't mean I don't have the sensitivities as a girl. Just listen to your heart and go."

Her brother chuckled and the princess softened before enveloping him into her arms, "I'll cover for you while you're gone and I know you love Orb as well so I know you'll be back." She glared at the imposter over his shoulder and Dino quickly returned to bruise examining, "I'll keep an eye on your imposter as well."

Kira laughed and pulled back from the hug, "I was hoping you will."

"Really? I thought you were betting on me pummelling him to the ground."

"That too, but once the beating was done, you'll watch him like a hawk."

He climbed onto Strike and Cagalli's eyes followed him.

"I have an illusion cast over him but if you knew he's not me then his real form will appear to you."

"It's already halfway revealed and I assure you, it is strange to see an image of you with navy hair."

"Goodbye, Cagalli."

"Better get back in one piece!"

And the prince galloped out of the courtyard.

Five minutes later, Sai entered from the other doorway and blinked to see Princess Cagalli poking at Kira's shoulder and arguing hotly like she was laying down rules where disobedience meant death.

"Why is the prince and the princess here so early in the morning?" he asked the only other person in the courtyard, Nix, who cried out in surprise and instantly ran away.

* * *

Shiho blinked her eyes wearily and lifted her limbs tiredly – even after a day, her muscles and body still ached from that force-field incident. Her bed was plush and incredibly warm so she was unwilling to leave it but she must because she was so hungry!

Her stomach growled and she threw off her bed covers with a huff. The stupid wizard need to put spells on trays so they'll bring her breakfast in bed… though said stupid wizard was still in nowhere to be found. She had woken up on the kitchen floor that morning with a blanket over her and the mysterious boy out of sight.

Shivering because the heating of the castle was still unfixed, Shiho climbed out of bed and changed quickly before grabbing her lovely red cloak that the wardrobe threw at her in the past and snuggled into it for warmth.

The hallways were not much warmer than her room and she made her way through them quickly. Her limbs were awfully tired and she wondered how Yzak was bearing compared to her, since he had absorbed all the burning magic that had invaded her body when she touched the force-field. Surely his body should be in the same painful condition as hers and most likely even worse since he actually picked her up and ran like a demon to save their lives.

She frowned at the trays of fruit she had laid out on various display tables dotted in the corridors. She had left them out on purpose so he wouldn't have to walk all the way to the kitchen in his pained state but since she didn't know the whereabouts of his bedroom, all she could do was leave various trays of food on various corridors hoping he was at least close to one.

She sighed and eyed the nearest bowl of fruit. She was still tired and she really didn't want to trudge all the way down to the kitchen and half-crawl all the way back.

So, Shiho snuck a glance up and down the corridor before picking up the bowl and walked back to her room.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

* * *

**CriTicAl**: Don't worry, Cagalli won't kill Athrun because then I'll be out of story!

**Moi**: how many fairytales do I plan to smash into this? To be honest, as many as I can without messing up the entire thing….

**Passer**-**by**: Thank you for reviewing! Yes, Athrun would do good not to underestimate Cagalli just because she's a princess

**Rocy**: improved? (blushes brightly) your words are very kind. I thank you.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	18. You and Me, Together we'll be

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen – You and Me, Together we'll be**

* * *

"What will you do now, your highness?" the cloud of pink sparkles asked and Kira paused in his drinking to frown at her.

"Lacus, please call me Kira." He said as he screwed the cap back onto his water-skin.

The genie giggled and Kira, though could not see her human appearance, could sense that she was smiling gently at him. "Very well, if you wish, Kira."

He smiled back at the top half of the cloud where he guessed her face to be. "Your question?"

"What will you do now? Where will you go?" she asked as her cloud floated down to sit on the soft grass at their feet.

Kira stared at his water-skin and thought for a while. "If I told you… would that count as a wish?"

She laughed at him, "No. As long as you don't say 'I wish', I would not take your words as a wish."

"I'm looking for something."

"For something? Wealth? Power? Wisdom? Love?"

Kira shook his head, "I don't know… Love maybe."

Lacus waited patiently for him to continue with Haro rolling near her feet cheerily.

"I remember waking up, years ago, from my Fairy Gift dream and feeling out of place - like I left something behind."

He felt the genie's unseen eyes staring at him as if she was confused and curious.

He blushed, "Do you believe in love at first sight, Lacus?"

She took in a sharp intake of breath and a while later, let it out, "You left your heart behind."

He nodded, still blushing, "I think so… at least that's the only answer I could come up with."

Kira expected her to laugh at him but all she did was stare at him. If only he had received the magic gift from the Fairy of Clyne instead of armourization, then he could actually see Lacus's face – it was so difficult, trying to judge her feelings by a cloud of pink smoke and glitter.

"How are you sure?" she asked finally and her Haro stopped rolling.

"I…. instinct, I think… every time I think of her, I go into daze as if my body and mind yearns to be with her," he answered and his mind brought forth the vision of the fairy's blue eyes and soft pink hair.

The cloud of pink glitter floated to her feet and gently extended a tendril of her sparkles to his hand. He guessed she was laying her hand on his. "What will you do now?" Lacus asked as gentle as the very cloud she seemed to be made up of.

"I'm going to ZAFT."

"Why?"

"The princess of ZAFT, Princess Meer," he explained as he tilted his head to look at the maze of tree branches on top of them. "She was supposedly a being that the king made to resemble the Fairy of Clyne."

"And?"

"She's the closest thing in this world to the actual fairy…"

"And?"

"I'll meet her and see what happens." Kira said with a grin as he turned to the genie. "It's my only clue, I believe."

He felt his genie smile at him, "would you _wish_ to meet her?"

"The princess?" he asked then his eyes brightened, "or the fairy?"

"You are not entirely sure you love the fairy… it would be a waste of a wish to meet her when you have not confirmed it," Lacus informed him with a giggle.

"The princess then?" his eyes dimmed slightly in hope but not much, since it seemed possible to meet the fairy if he truly wished for it.

As if sensing his hopes, his genie continued, "It will push my powers to the limit if I was to summon the fairy for you. If it was a two hundred years ago, I could have done it but the fairy is not as free as she was now."

He wanted to question why but she patted his hand and stood up, "If I was to summon her now… I think it would shatter me completely."

Kira blinked slightly in shock at the information. It had not occurred to him that she had limited power…

He felt her smile at him as if to change the subject quickly. "Will you wish to see the princess of ZAFT then?"

The prince shook himself from shock and replied, "No. I can get there myself – so I will not waste a wish for it."

Lacus nodded and placed her Haro in his hand before slowly streaming her cloudy self back inside it. "I'll guide you to ZAFT then."

"But I didn't wish…"

Her voice chuckled as she disappeared into the sphere in his hands, "It's not a wish, my master. I am merely giving you conversation, talking to my master is not a wish, right?"

* * *

"Milly! Where are you?" Dearka panicked.

It seemed that no matter how many times they practiced this shrinking thing, he would continue to panic like a crazy puppet – apparently, he was frightfully scared that he would step on her by accident.

Milly rolled her eyes in her tiny form and waved her arms, "Beside the daisy!"

"I see…" Dearka said as he calmed down before bending down to scoop her up. "It's just crazy that you're normal size when you're inside the garden and tiny when you're outside."

They had concluded that it was part of the same curse that did not let Milly speak of anything from her past.

Carefully, he raised his hand to his head where Milly climbed onto the old damaged hat Dearka kept in his bag of random tools.

"Ready?" he asked and Milly gave a sound of confirmation.

"What about my food?" she asked, eyes peering down curiously.

"I have enough fruit in my bag to last you a bit since you eat so little when you're small – your stomach is smaller now after all."

Milly glanced worriedly back to the garden they just left, "what if I suddenly grew big?"

Dearka paused, he hadn't thought of that. When Milly return to her normal size, she eats… a lot - maybe to make up for cutting out so much of it when she was tiny.

He smiled comfortingly anyways and maybe a bit irresponsible at the corners. "We'll figure something out when that comes."

The tiny girl laughed at him and he grinned back before hoisting his stick/crutch up and started limping into the forest.

"Now, my friend Yzak is a wizard. He lives in this spooky castle that both of us hate to bits," he started explaining as he marched, "He's a jerk most of the time but he's very knowledgeable so I'm sure he could point you the right direction in breaking your curse!"

Dearka stopped by a tree and pulled out a compass to study. "This way, I think… don't move around too much, Milly. A bird could fly down thinking you're a small mouse or something and fly off with you."

Milly laughed and obediently stayed still on his hat. They both stayed quiet as the puppet walked. After the silence of the walled garden, the sounds of birds chattering to each other in the trees about them were like music to their ears.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter.**

**KiKi Hayashi**


	19. To live from week to week

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

**I apologize in advance if Shiho was OOC in this chapter**

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen – ****To live from week to week**

* * *

"Oi! Hahnenfuss!" Yzak's voice shouted loudly from the other side of her door and Shiho drew her blankets over her head in attempt to stay asleep.

Wait? Yzak's voice?

"Wake up! We have work to-"

SLAM

Yzak blinked at her when she threw the door open so quickly that it hit the wall and nearly unhinged itself.

"You!" she gasped and he rolled his eyes. Like always, every facial action of his always brought her attention to the angry scar on his face.

"Get changed, we have work to do," he ordered and turned to walk away.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, eyes growing cold and stern. "You disappeared for days!"

Yzak paused and stared back at her as if the answer to her question was a well-known fact and she was plain stupid for not knowing it. "Recuperating, what else? I assume your body and muscles were a wreck the past few days – heavy, strained and painfully tired. It better be fine now, by the way."

Shiho nodded because there was nothing else to do.

"Well think of mine as ten times worse that your condition," he explained and turned to stalk away again. "Hurry up, get changed and eat something. Don't test my patience, soldier."

* * *

Yzak was mopping the floor of the ballroom where he performed his magic when Shiho quietly and cautiously walked in.

"You left me a new trail of roses," she said, "from the kitchen to… here?"

He didn't even look up or pause in his work. "The castle is dangerous, a lot of the rooms are still cursed, so you stray away from the trail I left you."

Shiho nodded, as if understanding why every unknown door she encountered so far were locked and how her trail of roses moved up and around the doorframe rather than through the door. He was subtly telling her to avoid the door like his roses did.

He jerked his head to the buckets of water and spare mops by the door. "Get one and help me clear the ink off the floor."

Shiho looked at the mop and then at the dried ink on the floor. "I thought this was your magic circle."

"It's a failed one," he answered and moved to clear the ink of his mop and soaked it with clean water again. "You're stuck in the castle with me. The force-field would not even allow you out of the door much less the garden so you may as well do some work."

Shiho nodded and tried to find the enchanted mop that usually kept the palace clean. "Where's the magic mop? Surely it could help us clean…"

"It's a nuisance to change its cleaning perimeters to include this room, because it'll keep trying to come in here even after it's clean." He stared pointedly at the extra mop and she took the hint to start working, "I will not have the stupid magic mop cleaning my magic circles as I lay them down."

"I see," Shiho said and looked at all the swirls by her feet. "Where do I start?"

He rolled his eyes, patience thinning as quickly as always. "So many questions! Anywhere, the circle is inactive so you wouldn't ruin or cause anything special to happen if a few lines are removed."

And he ignored her for the rest of the day.

* * *

It was two days later when they started on a making a new magic circle that Yzak found out about her ability to armourize. The first thing he did was eye her like critic then he scowled horridly. "A ZAFT soldier with the ability to armourize yet barely passable in hand-in-hand combat?"

Shiho really wanted to question him about how he knew she was a soldier, but that was after she attempted knocked his teeth out for calling her skills barely passable. Her eyes flicked with rage. "I'm not barely passable."

She stabbed her paintbrush back into the ink bucket and charged him.

He only raised a silver eyebrow and deftly dodged her fist, blocked another and, with the speed and skill of a striking serpent, shot into a weak spot of her stance to grab her by the collar. He twisted his body and threw her over his shoulder.

Shiho barely registered what happened when the wind was knocked from her lungs as she hit the floor.

"Barely passable," Yzak confirmed again and when she grunted back onto her feet again to glare at him, he glared back with equal and steadily more ferocity. "ZAFT's standards have fallen but the student is at fault as much as the mentor. You should have recognised your weakness in combat and worked to improve it. Had you trained under me, you would not have appeared at my castle in such a despicable state."

"What would you know about ZAFT? What would you know about training?" she spat back and frustrated, he waved a hand. Her lips sealed magically shut and her body slumped so that she was forced to sit on the floor like a disobedient child.

"I know everything about ZAFT and its training! More than you! More than whoever your captain was!" he shouted and then knelt in front of her. "Hand."

Indignant, Shiho ignored him and glared at him with violets brimming with anger. Since she wasn't in the most pleasant state, Yzak reached and grabbed her hand by himself. "It appals me that ZAFT soldiers has fallen to such a state."

He snapped his fingers and her mouth unsealed. He was asking before she could shoot him down with insults, "Please tell me that you are the only one like this and that the others are better trained than you were."

"We're all well-trained!"

He snorted, "You're not. I trust Athrun Zala is still in the army."

"Yes."

"Did he train you?"

"No, how do you know him?"

Yzak ordered for the other hand and this time, her rage settled an ounce thanks to curiosity and she obeyed. "Then at least there's some hope still left in ZAFT, what of Rau Le Creuset then? Still the commander of…"

"Yes."

"Then your instructor was at fault in the system. Armourize."

She glared again and snapped her hands away. "I do not have to obey your words like a dog."

He huffed and his scar deepened in his scowl. "You're one of those soldiers who relied on your armour's enhanced defence and abilities to keep yourself alive, aren't you?"

Her eyes flinched and he knew he hit the nail on the head. "Stupid woman, continue at this rate and you'll never get a promotion nor will you stay alive in the battlefield."

Yzak got onto his feet and undid the spell that held her in a sitting position. "From now on, every night, I will train your weak pathetic body and you will not leave this castle until I deem you a pass."

"Who in Eternal are you to order me what to do?" she replied coldly.

Yzak raised a silver eyebrow and regarded her in a superior manner. "I thought you could have guessed by now."

* * *

END OF CHAPTER NINETEEN

* * *

**CriTicAl**: No, no, not Kira and Meer - Absolutely not. She's just a plot device here.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	20. Things are not how they appear

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty – Things are not what they appear**

* * *

"Prince Kira!" a random lord shouted from somewhere behind him and Athrun barely even had time to turn around before Cagalli swooped in from nowhere and latched herself to Athrun's arm.

"I'm sorry, I need to borrow my brother for a few minutes," she explained sweetly to the lord who pointed at his mountains of documents.

"But I need this…"

"Here, I'll take it." Cagalli offered and the lord confusedly placed them in her hands before dismissing himself.

Once he was gone, Cagalli let out a sigh of relief then scowled at their interlinked arms before shaking herself out of it just as quickly as she had appeared.

"That was close."

"Yes, princess. Where is your maid?"

"Who? Marie? I sent her to fetch me new shoes," she said and took hold of his arm to drag him into her office nearby.

"Shoes?" he caught sight of an abandoned pair of slippers lying haphazardly by the princess's desk. "You were walking around in bare feet?"

Cagalli raised a blonde eyebrow and reached up to her hair to wrench the silver tiara out. "Am I not allowed to walk around in bare feet?"

Sometimes, Athrun wondered how more un-princess-like could this girl be. He peered down at the ends of her skirts and was slightly more comforted to see that her dress was long enough to cover her feet.

"The shoes were hurting me," she explained and pulled out a small plump cushion from under a pile of documents to place her tiara on. She started flipping through the wad of paper the lord in the hallway gave her, honey brown eyes scanning the words critically.

Athrun stood there for a moment before taking a seat in one of the side tables. Cagalli's personal maid had placed a tray of tea and pastries there and he quietly helped himself to them.

The past week had been pretty much this pattern. The princess had used the convincing excuse of learning all of Prince Kira's duties to become a better ruler as a way to take on all of Kira's work and keep the fake prince in her office as her 'tutor'. Though in reality, Athrun just sat there drinking so much tea that he found out he liked certain tea blends over others and which tea-cakes went with them better.

He never expected the princess to be the more responsible and sensible of the twins. Unlike Kira who was pretty much prepared to allow Athrun do his work, Cagalli didn't allow him touch any of it. She would forge all the signatures and reorganise her entire desk just to accommodate her double workload because she didn't trust Athrun.

Though she did give him work to do occasionally which helped the boredom slightly.

"Dino, where in Eternal did you put that brown book that was here before?" Cagalli demanded as she peered up and down the bookcase in a mad search.

Athrun sighed and put down his teacup and made his way across the room, "Top shelf."

She was an impatient little thing and was standing painfully in tiptoe to reach it before he even got there.

He smiled, the princess was pretty cute at times, and using his superior height, reached up to pluck the book from the shelf.

She scowled and snatched it from his hands. "Don't move things around without me knowing."

He laughed, "You told me to reorganise the bookshelf!"

Cagalli paused and tapped the spine of the book against her lips, "so I did… well re-arrange it." And she buried herself into her work again.

Athrun stared at her for a minute and tried to envision Princess Meer doing the same amount of work as Cagalli did. It was a difficult image to conjure as Meer was a little ditzy and fits the princess stereotype better than this blonde did. Does Meer even have an office?

Marie, the maid knocked and came in with Cagalli's new shoes before leaving again to fetch a fresh pot of tea. Athrun quickly snatched a cookie from the plate and with it dangling between his teeth; he set to rearrange the bookshelf again.

So far, his mission of snooping out Orb's intentions and interests were coming up with the kingdom being a surprisingly safe and comfortable place with no interest in joining in the ZAFT-EA war. Anyway, he could not find much since the princess is blocking him access to majority of the documents.

"Oh yes, you have to learn to dance," the princess suddenly said with her blonde head lost among the mountains of paperwork.

Athrun paused in his book stacking and removed the cookie from his mouth, "Pardon?"

"You have to learn to dance."

Athrun stared at her, "Why are you certain that I need to learn how to dance?"

Cagalli peered up from her work and eyed him critically, "I don't know what level you're at but we can see when we actually practice."

She did not recognise or remember him as one of the masked partners she was dancing with at the ball? Interesting…

"Why?"

"There's a festival at the start of August and it's tradition for Kira and I to perform a dance in it."

"On stage?"

"On stage."

"Very well," and he returned to his book stacking whilst wondering how in Eternal he was going to sneak out of Orb and report to Shinn now, especially with a princess shadowing him like a bodyguard.

* * *

Cagalli, at her desk, narrowed her eyes and returned to her work. Alex Dino was a mysterious young man. On the appearance he acts like a normal lad whose manners and slight antics gave the impression that he could be of noble house yet Cagalli could not find his name anywhere in any of Orb's notable families.

Sometimes, if she was quick enough, she could spot times when he forgot to hide his actions under the image of a normal person and showed the same sense of constant alertness and caution that soldiers favoured in battlefields. It was snippets of times like these when Cagalli wondered if she should tackle him to the floor and throw him in the dungeons just to be safe.

She watched as he brushed a few strands of his navy hair from his vision and tucked it behind his ear.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked somewhat nervously.

"I'm not," Cagalli quickly blurted out with a slight hint of pink across her nose for being caught staring. Her eyes snapped back down to the documents she was reviewing. He was fine looking young man - she acknowledged that – but one wrong move and she'll stab those ugly stilettos Yuuna got her for her birthday, into his neck before he could blink.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY

* * *

**Strangely, my chapters refuse to get any longer, does it?**

**CriTicAl**: Yzak is adorable I think and he becomes more cuter the meaner he gets…. Though I have a strange opinion on things in general….

**Cagalli20**: I can't really believe how I managed to pull this fic off either (and mostly can't believe that you guys actually let me pull it off!)

**KiKi Hayashi**


	21. Look, there she goes again

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One – Look, there she goes again. That girl is strange, no question.**

* * *

"No! Left foot! Stupid! Left Foot!" Cagalli snapped, her hand slapping Athrun's upper arm impatiently.

"This is my left foot!" Athrun snapped back, equally impatient, and Cagalli dragged them back to the starting position again. "You just keep forgetting to see things from my perspective. Your right is my left. Your left is my right!"

Cagalli ran a hand through her blonde hair and took a deep breath. "This was harder than I thought…"

"At least we agree on that…" Athrun said and tried to smile but failed. A waltz he could just about do without embarrassing himself in a formal function but this royal Orb waltz was a different matter.

"No! Twirl here! You're supposed to twirl me here!" Cagalli snapped again – she was not the best dance teacher in the world.

* * *

Shinn paced the grass until the green blades were no longer pointing upwards but lying flat beneath his feet. Athrun was late… Very late.

At first, Shinn had comforted himself by joking to himself about how Zala could have made FAITH knight with such poor time keeping but it was no laughing matter now.

Zala was known among the ranks to be a diligent soldier of ZAFT and was one that could be counted on as the first to hand in his report (unlike Shinn who would push the deadline limit to its limits and probably work on the actual document the night before said limit), so something big must be occurring to stop him from reporting.

Shinn sighed loudly and kicked at the long blades of grass in a frustrated fashion. He was annoyed, frustrated, worried, irritated and confused combined. He cursed his navy-haired superior for not reporting and making him stay within Orb to wait for his report.

Some ducks in the lake nearby chattered loudly and part of him wanted to shoot them all out of the water. He hated Orb. Mayu died here. His parents died here. All because Orb failed at protecting its borders properly when one of the ZAFT versus EA skirmishes drew too close to his village on the border.

Shinn glared at the sky and threw himself to the ground so that he could curse quietly in his mind, at the clouds above.

* * *

"Can I have some bread?" Stellar asked timidly and Auel rolled his eyes.

"Stellar! You're too shy. Don't ask for bread! Demand it!" Auel cheered and Sting carefully ripped a bit of the loaf for the blonde girl. Personally, Sting sometimes thought Auel picked on Stellar too much but he himself couldn't be bothered to interfere.

Stellar took the piece Sting offered and skipped away. Auel rolled his eyes once again, "Che, it's our day off and what does she spend it on? Playing with birds! Come on, Sting, let's go see if we can steal some of those apples from the stupid farmer's orchard again."

* * *

Shinn looked up when a girl ran out of the trees from the direction of the town. She paused and stared with wonder at the ducks in the lake like a child seeing a new toy.

Perhaps he should leave the lakeside…

Zala appointed this as their meeting spot though…

Zala was also four days late…

The girl didn't notice his presence and gave a short squeal before dashing to the water edge and ripping pieces of bread from her little loaf. The ducks shot across the surface of the lake and crowded around the banks as she tossed crumbs in.

The girl laughed and the birds flapped into the air, making her stare at them like she have never seen it before.

"What a strange girl," Shinn muttered as he witnessed her twirling her arms out in spirals. Her little dance was strangely cute in a childish and innocent way.

"Hey!" Shinn called out as he noticed her feet wandering towards the edge of the banks. "You're going to fall in!"

She ignored him completely and the coordinator wondered if he should go over and stop her before she fell in. Having nothing to do, he went over. "Oi, you'll fall in…"

And she screamed when he touched her shoulder.

Then she rammed the heel of her hand into his nose and he was very sure then that she broke it.

Shinn cursed as tears sprung to his eyes and in the confusion, the ducks dove through the air to get the last of the bread in the girl's hands. She screamed again and lost her balance.

Nose hurting and tears rolling down his face, Shinn watched as she fell backwards into the water.

SPLOOSH

The ducks flapped after the bread that has been flung into the air when she fell and she surfaced immediately, arms flailing and mouth gasping.

"You hit me!" he cried still shocked from the attack and she spluttered at him. She splashed water everywhere and still, nursing his nose, Shinn stared at her until his brain clicked when he saw her wide panicking eyes. "You can't swim?"

Her answer was to cry out as she splashed about the water.

Forgetting about his injured nose, the youth dived forward and into the water.

Ten minutes later, he dragged a shivering and scared girl to the shallower banks of the lake. "Are you stupid? If you can't swim then you shouldn't have gone near the edge! If nobody was here to save you, you could have died!"

It seemed like this girl was determined to injure his manly pride as she stiffened then her head butted into his chin. Shinn swore again in disbelief - two injuries in one day by a village girl!

"Die? Stellar doesn't want to die!" the blonde girl cried out as if she was going to die right there, right then. "Stellar doesn't want to die!"

"What are you? Crazy?" Shinn shouted, now nursing a sore nose and chin, "Oi! That's the deep end I dragged you back from! Where are you! OI! Stupid idiot!"

And he waded through the waters to stop her in time. This time, he caught her waist and watched her wildly swinging arms. He dodged two elbows and three wild head-butts before he could trap her arms in his and pin them to her sides as he pulled her back to shore.

"I get it. Dying is scary. Yes. Now please calm down!" he shouted above her wailing. He wrapped his arms about her and pulled her into a fierce and tight hug. She grew ramrod straight and he tried calming words. "It's okay. I'll save you! You won't die! I'll swim and save you!"

She shivered into his arms and her nails clawed into his back. "Stellar doesn't want to die."

At a loss at what to do and say, Shinn could only stay there and hold her as she took deep breaths to calm herself.

"Stellar doesn't want to die. Stellar will be protected?"

"Um… yes, sure… I'll protect you." Shinn said.

Five minutes later, she lifted her head and stared at his face. "You'll protect Stellar?"

He was suddenly aware that he was still holding an unknown girl and he quickly pulled apart from her, "Um… yes."

She beamed at him and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Stellar is called Stellar!" She waded through the water until she was right in front of him, close enough to make him blush.

"I'm… Shinn."

"Shinn," she repeated, letting the name roll off her tongue cutely. "Shinn," she said again and smiled as bright as the sun.

* * *

"Stellar!" Sting shouted and he ran up to the girl emerging from the forest. She was wet and she was with a stranger. She better not be hurt because Neo would kill him.

"Sting!" the blonde greeted and ran towards him to gently take his arm like a child would to their parents.

"She fell into the lake," the stranger boy explained and Auel grumbled something in the background before stripping off his jacket and placing it over Stellar's shoulders.

The black-haired kid smiled and started to leave, "Make sure she doesn't go near the lake again."

"Shinn!" Stellar cried and the boy laid a hand on her hair.

"I'll see you around." And he left.

* * *

Many hours later, Shinn threw up his arms as he gave up, "Stupid Zala! If you're not going to come, at least send a note!"

He grabbed his bag and wondered how Stellar was doing.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

* * *

**Moi**: Open mind is one thing I own, don't worry. I understand what you're talking about and will try to intermingle the character sections a little more. Sadly, it's the way the entire plot is laid out (yes I have the plot outline and chapter outlines all written out) and if I change it too much it might make it more confusing… The separate stories was a good idea but they all join into one after a while….sorry. I'll see what I can do.

**Rocy**: I forgot about Shinn myself and I love Cagalli's character so she's always the easiest to write.

**CriTicAl**: I'm sorry that I'm making you wait for all the romance to build up. I'll try my best!

**KiKi Hayashi**


	22. Something There

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two – Something There**

* * *

"Haro! Haro!" the pink Haro bounced and cheered loudly, successfully scaring away all the birds and shy forest animals within their area.

Kira watched it with a smile and a sigh as he worked his legs through the undergrowth. "Lacus, this road is grown over. Are you sure you're not taking me deeper into the forest?"

The Haro bounced even higher and ejected a cloud of pink dust. The cloud chuckled and Kira was given the impression that his genie was smiling warmly at him. "It's the correct path, just untouched for a long time."

Kira nodded understandingly. The forest they were going through was to the west of Orb and south of ZAFT but it's largely left alone because of some rumours that it was enchanted and compasses fail in here.

Had he not trusted Lacus and was unwilling to take the longer journey of traversing north and around the mountain range that separated Orb and ZAFT, Kira wouldn't have even dream of coming into this dense forest. He could always travel through the mountains themselves but the terrain there was dangerous and took just as long as the north route.

Haro bounced and Kira was amused by the way the tendril of pink glitter that served as Lacus's constant connection to the Haro elongated, thinned and twirled with each bounce.

"Haro!" it chirped loudly in the quiet forest and bounced over a bush.

The cloud of glitter, now with an extremely long pink glittery tail, followed and floated to his shoulder like a guardian angel.

"Shall we go, Kira?" Lacus's gentle voice asked.

"Yes," and he followed the pink orb through the forest with his genie by his side.

* * *

"Ow," Shiho winced from the floor. She was facing the ceiling and was slightly agitated about the fact that she had stared up at it so much that she knew every decorative line on the fancy ceiling.

Yzak's face loomed into view – his face not even hinting tiredness or even breaking a sweat. "Are you going to spend the rest of this practice session on the floor or are you going to stand up and fight me again?"

Shiho's eyes sharpened and got off the floor. Yzak smirked, "That's better."

Barely thirty seconds later, Yzak threw her over his shoulder and she crashed onto her back with eyes to the ceiling again.

Shiho groaned and wondered why they couldn't have left castle's magic heating system in its broken state, she could sure do with a blast of cold air now – her body was sticky with sweat and her muscles burned from excessive exercise.

Though it was nice to be able to complete at least one magic circle and to get hot water in her baths now.

"You're improving," he noted and somewhere in Shiho's heart, she soared with pride at the compliment, though outwardly she stared at him with mild shock.

"Too slowly though," Yzak finished and Shiho sighed in a somewhat relieved manner. That's the Yzak she knew and had been working with in the past week.

She rolled over and felt like an elderly lady as she got up painfully – her muscles and bones were killing her. Why did she agree to this daily torture that Yzak called training? Oh wait, she never agreed, she was forced into it.

"Up, Hahnenfuss!" the silver-haired mage demanded. "What kind of ZAFT soldier are you? You can't even last five minutes in actual combat!"

* * *

"Princess, dear Fairy of Clyne, I have toes in that shoe and I want them intact! Please stop standing on them!" Athrun hissed with annoyance.

Cagalli lifted her head and raised a delicate blonde eyebrow at him, "took you long enough to figure out that you have emotions. I was wondering when you'd drop that polite mask you insisted in keeping on."

Athrun stopped their dance practice suddenly and she scowled. "Now we have to do that bit all over again."

He took a deep breath and tried to push his annoyance aside, not easy when you severely lack sleep because of secret dance lessons with a crazy princess who was not the greatest teacher in the world.

"Princess Cagalli," he said as evenly as he could, "had you been stepping on my toes and pestering me on purpose?"

Cagalli thought for a while then shrugged. "A little. You're acting far too polite towards me anyway. Kira would act more friendly."

She pulled him to the starting point of the dance floor again. "The other reason would be that I keep expecting you to know specific parts of the dance but turned out you didn't."

Athrun grinned, "I think that's my teacher's fault and not mine."

Cagalli snapped their hands into position and glared at him. Four steps into the dance, she stamped extra hard on his foot.

* * *

Shiho was always the one first one into the ballroom where the magic circle sat. She would toss her red cloak to the side of the room and stare at the lines on the floor critically as if she was trying to remember how the circle looked like.

It didn't matter how much she tried to remember because she didn't dare start adding to the circle in case she was wrong.

Yzak never appeared until somewhere past noon and each time it was groggily and moodily, as if he got very little sleep the previous night. Little sleep? Yzak? Nonsense! He doesn't even use a portion of his strength in combat training and he retired to bed earlier than she did! How many hours did he need to sleep?

Yzak appeared as she predicted – grumpy and just awake.

The first time she had sarcastically asked how his beauty sleep went and he had exploded on her.

The second time round, she chose the sensitive approach and asked if something was wrong. He exploded on her for that as well.

So she learnt to keep her mouth shut until he was in a better mood later on in the day.

Yzak grumbled something and tossed his sweeping cloak aside so it joined hers by the wall. He closed his eyes, concentrated and uttered a few words. Three seconds later, magic threads of light swirled into view on the floor and the magic circle's outline appeared. Shiho fetched her paint bucket.

She would use the thicker brush and using the magic light lines as guides, paint out the basic shape of the circle, whilst Yzak took the finer brush and drew in all the details whilst imbuing the lines with magic.

Despite how they disliked each other, they worked well as a team.

* * *

"MIIIILLLY!"

"DEARKAAA!"

"I'll saaaave youuu!" Dearka shouted and frantically started looking for sticks long enough to reach.

Many minutes later, Dearka tried to warm the tiny and shivering girl by the fire.

"I can't believe you dropped me into the river," Milly muttered.

Dearka rubbed the back of his wooden neck sheepishly as he reached to take her wet doll-like clothes and pinned it on a line he put up.

Milly sneezed and huddled a handkerchief closer around her tiny naked form.

* * *

Yzak didn't really like sweet things, Shiho found out.

Like most female beings, Shiho had a sweet tooth and had offered slices of cake to the wizard numerous times (mostly because it looked impolite to get herself a treat from the pantry and not something for him as well). He would eat the offered treat, yes. But his look was not one who enjoyed it.

He wasn't one that showed obvious hatred in sweet things either. It was a neutral expression, which was rather rare on the wizard's face to honest, since he spent most of the time scowling. Though he avoided sweet things if he had a choice. He was slightly cute that way and maybe a little attractive especially when he didn't have a grumpy look on his face.

"Hahnenfuss! Stop eating that stupid bit of pastry and finish your work!"

She concluded that Yzak was not attractive at all and was truly a beast.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

* * *

**CriTicAl**: Thanks as always! I love ShinnxStellar! Because they're such a cute couple!

**KiKi Hayashi**


	23. Through the mists, Through the woods

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three – Through the mists, Through the woods**

* * *

Dearka was very sure he had walked past this area already – he could recognise the way the tree roots were more bundled on one side than the other and the trunk's pattern.

Milly coughed weakly in his tattered coat pocket. Dearka spared a moment to look worriedly down at the tiny girl. She was wrapped snugly in a handkerchief and flushed red with fever.

"Are we there yet?" Milly asked, voice barely above a whisper and eyes half-lidded in tiredness. "It's cold…"

Should he tell her that he thinks they were lost?

"Nearly, just hang in there a little longer," he lied and cupped his wooden hand over the pocket she was in.

"It's cold," she coughed.

"I should have been more careful then she wouldn't have fallen into the river," he muttered as she fell asleep in his pocket

He spotted a den in among a tangle of tree roots and flew through his memories for references. Turn right. He had to turn right!

"I've found the way, Milly! Hang in there a little longer!"

Dearka started running as fast as his damaged wooden leg could through the forest.

* * *

"What in Eternal is that?" Dearka gaped.

There was a strange sparkling semi-transparent white dome over the entirety of the castle grounds, from garden wall to garden wall.

Dearka reached out a hand wondering if he should touch the dome thing but something told him not to – perhaps it was the image of what appeared to be lightning sparks dancing across the dome's surface.

"What did Yzak do?" he complained and heard his tiny passenger go into a coughing fit in his pocket. "Man, this is not my day."

He shrugged off his jacket and carefully put it down on the floor, making sure Milly didn't fall out. He eyed the area about him. "Yzak better have a good excuse ready because I will kill him if I'm risking my life for something as stupid as a missing letter in his spell."

He started gathering wood.

* * *

"Yzak?" Shiho asked, eyes shadowed by a hand as she tried to block out the light of the sunset.

"What, Hahnenfuss?" he snapped impatiently and glared when she stopped her magic circle painting.

"Is that smoke?"

"Hahnenfuss, what are you…"

"Outside." Shiho put her brush back into the paint bucket, got up and went to the large windows of the ball room. "Morse code."

Yzak joined her and his mind deciphered the smoke signals faster than Shiho could. "Dearka. He's outside. Stupid puppet, he's made out of wood and he's putting himself near _fire_?"

"Dearka?"

"Stay quiet, I have to concentrate to send this through the barrier." Yzak commanded and glared at the sky through the window. Shiho was about to say something but she felt the air crackle with magic and the hair on her skin raised, so wisely kept her mouth shut.

His hair started floating in the air and she quickly stepped away from him in fear that something like electric shocks will start bouncing out of his skin if she stood too close.

* * *

Dearka jumped when fireworks started exploding in the sky and was half running to scoop up Milly to do a runner.

He glanced up as the fireworks fizzled and cursed Yzak, "stupid moron, showing off with his fancy techniques."

The firework sparks re-arranged themselves into words.

'Forcefield. Do not touch. Is dismantling. Might take days.' - It read.

The puppet looked at his folded jacket on the grass where Milly wheezed in a sickly manner. "I can't wait days…"

He signalled back.

'With friend. Sick. Not wait days.' - He smoked.

Yzak's fireworks crackled immediately - 'Tough'

"Tough? What do you mean tough? I can't have tough well!" Dearka shouted into the air and Milly stirred in her sleep at the noise.

"Dearka?" She coughed and shivered as she peeked out of the pocket, handkerchief wrapped cutely across her shoulders.

The puppet dropped to his knees beside her. "There's a force-field about the castle, we can't get in."

"Force-field?" She turned and looked up to the white dome.

Fireworks exploded in the sky - 'Dearka, don't do anything stupid.'

Milly's eyes glowed.

* * *

Yzak relaxed and Shiho let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. The magic in the air died down and Yzak's hair stopped defying gravity to settle on his scalp once more.

"The force-field blocks magic as well?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." He noticed the distance Shiho and put between them and rolled his blue eyes, "If I couldn't control my magic and have a possibility of hitting you with it then I would have asked you to move."

Sheepish, Shiho smiled and he grunted before returning to work.

She followed and crashed into his suddenly frozen form.

"What-" she started to say but he whirled about and his eyes were the size of dinner plates as he stared out the window again.

There was a glow outside the walls.

* * *

Dearka's wooden jaw dropped and he was having a hard time closing his mouth.

What was happening? Why was Milly glowing? Why was she floating half a metre in the air and still rising?

"Milly?" he choked out.

The tiny girl floated higher.

"Milly?"

And higher still.

"MILLY!" he screamed and in one fluid motion, flung his bag onto his back before diving forward and grabbing hold of the tiny girl's body with both his hands.

PSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hair! Hair was everywhere!

Milly's shorn off hair suddenly exploded and grew metres long at the blink of an eye.

"What's happening?" the puppet screamed and the hair floated around them like eerie glowing tentacles. He clung onto the tiny body in the air. "Milly! Wake up!"

The hair moved and he screamed as it wrapped around them both like a protective sphere. "Milly!"

He didn't let go.

* * *

"The doors," Yzak whispered and suddenly turned. He ran like the devil possessed. "The doors!" he shouted.

"What?" Shiho shouted back and chased after him, barely able to keep the ends of his cloak in sight as he shot through the hallways.

"The doors!" he shouted again, "The front doors!"

* * *

Outside the walls, the sphere of chestnut hair glowed bright and then to Dearka's horror, fired upwards, arched and crashed right into the white dome.

Inside the sphere, Dearka was certain he would have puked had he still owned a stomach – even without one, the magic pressure and concentration inside Milly's protective sphere of hair was overwhelming and was driving his senses crazy.

The sphere screeched monstrously as it forced its way into the force-field, glowing brighter by the second. The force-field sparked at the attack and wrapped wave upon wave of magic bolts about its opponent.

Inside, Dearka gagged, closed his eyes and held the tiny Milly to his wooden chest as the hair all around him and her eyes glowed even brighter. He didn't let go, not even for a second.

The sphere shook off the magical bolts the force-field attacked it with and spun. There was more screeching and then like a shooting star, Milly and Dearka's sphere catapulted forward – right through the force-field.

It slammed into the heavy metal doors of the castle and, inside, Shiho was knocked to the floor as the entire structure seemed to vibrate from the hit. The doors failed to open though.

With a new wave of magical bolts still attacking it, the sphere circled the garden once and whooshed back at the front doors.

"Oh for Eternal's sake!" Yzak complained loudly and glared at the heavy doors. They swung open and the ball of hair shot in at the speed of a cannonball being shot across the sky.

Before it even hit the opposite wall, the wizard gritted his teeth and shouted some words.

The combination of the doors slamming close and the sphere hitting the wall rocked the castle enough for the paintings in the adjoining corridors to crash down in unison.

Shiho finally looked up from the floor, Yzak was taking deep breathes like he was trying to calm himself down or had performed some exhausting exercises – probably both – and they both stared at the wall.

It should have been shattered…

But there was barely dent.

"What kind of castle is this?" whispered Shiho and her eyes went to the sphere of chestnut hair that was lying innocently on the floor.

It glowed like the sun.

They stared at it in silence.

Suddenly there was coughing from within and the sphere collapsed to a pile of hair on the floor, all belonging to a human girl lying awkwardly on top of a wooden puppet.

"She grew big!" Dearka gasped from under the girl's body. "Milly, are you okay?"

"Dear…ka?" Milly coughed and closed her glowing eyes as her body and hair dimmed to their normal colour.

Yzak was in front of Shiho in a flash, magic crackling in the air and tendrils of silver hair floating. He was dangerous and aggressive all the sudden.

"Dearka… who and what is she?" he hissed as his hands seemed like they were ready to fight or to grab Shiho and flee.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

* * *

**CriTicAl**: No cake for Yzak but lots of screen-time in this chapter.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	24. He's holding back, He's hiding

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four – He's holding back, He's hiding**

* * *

Kira pulled the brim of his hat lower as the crowd hushed when their king raised his hands theatrically. Back in Orb, his father addressed the public from atop the castle walls but here, King Durandal addressed them from the top of the long staircase that led up to the castle.

The royal family of ZAFT were all gifted in magic and demonstrated so by enhancing the volume of his voice so it reached down the stairs and boomed across the large square with ease.

He wasn't interested in the king's speech though. He should be but he wasn't but he did note that Durandal used fancier and more formal wording than his father - who would gladly talk about the weather or the price of turnips if you allowed him.

No, he was distracted by the girlish figure standing beside the raven-haired king.

He was too far away to make her features out clearly but the pink hair triggered images to flow on repeat through his head. Pink hair and blue eyes, his mind screamed as the images of the fairy of Clyne floated and blurred his thoughts.

He was sure that his heart belonged to the fairy. She had taken it when he first met her in his gift dream and to this day he was still scandalized that he never asked her real name nor even heard her speak. He woke up confused from his gift dream that night, heart beating fast and aching like it was lonely now that she wasn't there.

The Fairy of Clyne.

_His_ fairy of Clyne.

He fixed his eyes on the princess beside ZAFT's king.

Was Princess Meer the girl he was seeking?

He stared at her for a full five minutes.

Nothing.

He felt nothing. Confusion went wild in his mind – was he not supposed to feel love or something?

* * *

"Good, you're getting better, Dino." Cagalli commented and Dino raised an eyebrow.

"A compliment from her highness? I am honoured," he said with a small grin.

Cagalli rolled her honey orbs and dragged him back to the starting position.

"I thought you said I was better!" he complained, unwilling to practice the dance all over again.

Cagalli ignored his complaints, instead she chose to bend down, untie her shoes and kick them off so that she was barefooted. "My feet are tired from girly shoes and I'm not complaining yet – who are you to complain?"

Dino glanced down at her feet and didn't fail to notice the blisters that dotted her feet. "Maybe we should rest."

"We don't have time," she argued and signalled the only other occupant in the room, the pianist, to start again. The princess wanted to keep their practice as secret as possible and refused to hire any more musicians – even the current pianist was a servant she trusted with skills on the piano.

Dino waved a hand and signalled the pianist to have a rest. Since the servant was still in the dark about his impersonation of Prince Kira, it looked like the prince ordered a break.

"Fetch us some water please," the imposter ordered.

Cagalli glowered when the pianist got up from his seat, eager to stretch his limbs and left the room. "I didn't call for a break."

The navy-haired man sighed and placed his hands on her elbow before trying to direct her to a chair at the edge of the room. Keyword - trying.

The princess refused to budge.

"Princess, please don't be stubborn. You're tired, I'm tired, it's the middle of the night and we've been working on limited sleep for consecutive days now."

Cagalli wanted to point out that for somebody who was 'working on limited sleep' he was very normal and lively unlike her own grouchy self. She was certain that the young man was used to this limited sleep business and the so called limited sleep was normal routine for him. She was constantly suspicious of him and was sure he was hiding something, no matter how innocent he acted. He sighed again, ran his hand through his navy locks and apologised.

"Why are you apologi-" she started to question then gasped, "Dino! Put me down this instant!"

He did put her down but only when he reached the chair he had been trying to seat her in and only to put her down in it. Cagalli huffed and tried to get off the chair but he bent and picked up her blistered feet, making her topple backwards into the chair. "What are you doing?" she hissed, shoving up her sleeves like she was preparing to wrestle with him.

"Your feet are blistered," he noted critically. She was slightly irked that his tone was void of tenderness, worry or any such emotions. Alex Dino just sounded critical, like a researcher examining an object.

She was also slightly embarrassed at the way he handled her feet so carefully and didn't mention anything about the smell, sweat or even the way they were slightly dirty from the occasional times she kicked off her shoes today.

"I am fine!" she growled, trying to snap her feet back.

The servant returned with a jug of water and cups, he did not find it strange to see the prince kneeling before his sister, examining her feet. Dino got off the ground, moistened a handkerchief with some water from the jug and cleaned his hands – all without saying a word or letting any emotion out apart from a casual smile shown on his face.

A smile that looked distractingly nice on his face…

Cagalli allowed a tint of pink across her face at the thought and clenched her dress at the knees. She turned her face to the floor to hide her blush and counted until she felt her face was a normal colour once more.

Alex's presented a glass of water to her face and she glared at him before snatching the glass from his hand and gulp it back in an unladylike manner. He raised an eyebrow at her and she planted the glass on the table before grabbing his hand.

"From the beginning again," she demanded and he chuckled before placing his hands in the correct position. This time he focused very hard on her feet so as not to hurt them more than her blisters were.

* * *

Kira was in a lonely alleyway and with the cover of a few crates when he summoned Lacus to appear before him again.

The pink glitter paused like she was observing their surroundings and then he heard her amusement in her tone, "You called me for something, Kira?"

Kira leant back so that his head rested on a grimy wall behind him – he didn't care that his hair was getting dirty from the action.

"I saw her."

"Her?"

"The princess… Princess Meer."

"And? Did your heart go aflutter?" She knew his answer from his frown before it came in the form of words from his mouth.

"No."

He gently stroked her Haro with his thumbs, eyes staring at it like he was lost and didn't know what to do. "I saw her from afar and I didn't feel a single thing. I don't understand… she's the closest thing in this world to resemble the fairy but when I looked at her, I felt nothing at all and… she was supposed to look like her, but to me she was so different."

"How so?"

"I don't know. It's a feeling."

"Perhaps you were too far away."

Kira paused, hope was slowly leaking back into his mind, "Too far?"

The cloud of glitter bundled at the ground by his feet and he guessed that Lacus was kneeling now. She laid both hands on top of his on the Haro. "Shall we go see the princess?"

Kira closed his eyes, "Yes…"

"Wish?"

"No, I'll sneak in tonight."

* * *

The wind whipped across Shinn's face like it was punishing him for something he didn't do. He hated the winds of this mountain range and he hated it even more today – mainly because he was in a grouchy mood because stupid Zala didn't return to report as ordered.

He channelled an extra burst of energy to his wings and fought against the wind as he tried to get home. He should arrive in ZAFT some time in the night and hoped that Creuset wasn't still up (does that man even sleep?) because Shinn would like a few hours rest before he gave his report.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

* * *

**Rocy**: um… the chapter titles are just lines I took from Disney lyrics that I think or find (and often fail it seemed) to fit the chapters. So no, you're not over-analysing?

**CriTicAl**: haha, I'm hoping for a 'Go Kira!' somewhere next chapter. (yes, it's time to pull off some 'unbeatable-Kira' action now I think)

**Moi**: yes, they're intertwining (about time too!) thanks as always

**KiKi Hayashi**


	25. Who is the monster and who is the man?

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five – Who is the monster and who is the man?**

* * *

The castle was better guarded than he had thought and having trained his own men for exactly the same job in Orb, Kira could not help but be impressed.

He had circled the walls twice and had yet to find a gap in the security. Sneaking in wasn't going to be easy. He observed the less guarded wall until it was the dead of night, watching and timing each rotation of guards. Lacus's Haro, quiet and not hyper for once, amused itself by rolling in quiet circles behind the chimney they were hiding behind.

It rolled after him as he crept to the edge of the roof and plopped down cutely after him when he jumped to the ground. Kira smiled and asked his genie to be quiet and still as he carefully slipped the sphere back into his bag. He eyed the guards at the top of the wall. The next change was not due for another two hours.

FLASH, the wings of his armour appeared, sprouting from his back like giant blue metal feathers. He extended them, choosing not to call up the rest of his armour, which powerful it was but white metal was not the stealthiest material in the world.

He took a deep breath and leapt forward.

In a second, his wings shot him forward like a blur, barely fitting into the shadows of the streets. He was upon one of the men guarding the side door before the guy could even blink.

On cue, the town square's clock chimed loudly and Kira flashed armour to his knuckles. He brought his fist up and smashed it into the guard's head using the clock's loud chimes to hide the noise and the man's cry.

By the time the second chime of the clock sounded, the second guard had just realised there was somebody else there who was not an ally. Kira charged and pivoted on one heel as the guard tried to make a sound, any sound, anything to notify others.

The third chime and Kira brought his foot up, flashing armour on it as it rocketed into the guard's temple. The man was down before the clock's chime droned still.

Working quickly, he summoned strength to his arms and heaved the two guards up against the wall as quiet as possible without alerting the guards posted at the top of the wall. He couldn't make them look as if they're standing so he left them sitting against it, hoping to give the impression that they were slacking from the job rather than having them not there at all.

All he could do now was pray that the guards posted on top wouldn't approach the edge of the wall and crane their heads down.

He wrapped his hand in his sleeve and reached over to enclose it around a bunch of keys dangling from one of the guard's hips. The cloth muffled the clinking.

Quiet as he could, he stole the keys and slotted it into the door. The lock turned and door opened without a sound. The wall part was over, now to the garden, castle, corridors and of course, finding the princess's room.

* * *

Meer loved to brush her hair. She enjoyed running her comb through her straight pink locks and watched them ripple like fish scales in water – shiny, glossy and unquestionably smooth. When she couldn't sleep or when she woke up in the middle of the night like this, she liked to brush her hair to relax herself once more before she slipped back in bed.

Her hair was her third favourite part of herself. The first favourite was obviously her singing voice and the second were her curves. In her dreams, she shared girly conversations with the fairy of Clyne who she was made to be a mirror image of. She was made as a clone of the fairy after all so they must share the same interests and opinions, right?

She hummed as she ran the comb through her hair again, smiling and pouting at her reflection in the mirror. A princess must appear her prettiest no matter what expression she pulled.

Something clattered to the floor behind her and Meer jumped with surprise. She blinked at the reflection of her room in her mirror. There was a young man in her room.

"Can I help you?" she asked loudly, thinking he was a servant.

"Princess Meer?" the brown haired boy asked as if surprised, confused and curious.

Meer swivelled in her seat to face the boy. In the back of her mind she wondered why the maids outside didn't announce the young man's arrival. Was she so preoccupied with her own reflection in the mirror that she didn't hear their announcement? Possibly - it wasn't the first time after all.

"Princess Meer?" the young man tried again and Meer noticed that he was a relatively cute boy. If he was cleaned and dressed up a little and he could be as attractive as Athrun Zala (who has yet to return her affections).

He stepped forward and she watched as he extended a hand towards her. "What are you doing?" she asked as politely as she could. She was not used random servants coming in and reaching out to touch her.

The young man suddenly paused. "You're not her."

"Who? The princess? Of course I'm the princess!"

He frowned, "No, I meant you're not her. You're not the fairy of Clyne." He looked at her again, scrutinising her with critical purple eyes. "No, you're not her at all."

"Pardon?" she asked, wondering if she heard him wrong. She was the princess of ZAFT. She was made by the greatest magic user, her father, King Durandal to be exactly like the fairy. She wasn't the fairy?

"I am the fairy!"

He frowned further, "No, you're… like her in a way…. You… look like her but you're not the fairy."

There was somebody else in this world that resembles the fairy more than herself? Meer was confused and in her mind, she howled and screamed in pain as she imagined herself dethroned from her spot as the fairy of Clyne in ZAFT. She was exactly like her! How can Meer not be the fairy?

"I am the fairy!" she shouted, louder this time and rose from her chair. "I, Princess Meer of ZAFT, was and still am the fairy of Clyne!"

He back away, hands in front of his chest as if he didn't mean to offend her.

"I am a Clyne!" she shouted at him.

"Sorry," he muttered quickly and fled the room. Meer heaved in shuddering breaths. Her mind reeled as she thought of the possibility of being known as merely a princess and having nothing to do with the fairy. She was a Clyne. She was made to resemble the fairy. So she must be a fairy of Clyne as well.

She stared at her hands, wondering why her maids didn't burst into the room when they heard her shouting. Her throat was dry so Meer ran her tongue about the cavern of her mouth and swallowed a bit of saliva. She was the fairy.

She walked back to her dressing table, eyes not even focusing as she picked up her comb again. She was the fairy.

She straightened the back and glared at her reflection. She was the Eternal fairy.

* * *

Kira walked quickly away from the princess's room. Haro jiggled worriedly in his bag as if it felt the disappointed vibes radiating off him in waves. He slipped a hand into the bag and curled his fingers about the pink ball.

"I didn't feel anything from her," he whispered as he leant against a wall of some unknown corridor. He was lost but at this point he was beyond caring. "She wasn't the fairy."

Did this mean that he abandoned his duties and snuck all the way across the country for nothing? Maybe he was wrong about loving the fairy…

Kira sunk to the floor, the corridor was blissfully dark and abandoned because the majority of the servants had retired for the night. Leaning his head against the wall, he closed his eyes and tried to summon the image of the fairy to his mind again.

"Orb."

Kira jerked awake when he heard the word. He looked about him. There was nobody in the corridor.

"Orb"

There it was again.

The prince eyed the door a little to his left and crawled forward to press an ear against it.

* * *

"Zala failed to report to you?" Creuset questioned, eyebrow raised high enough that Shinn could see it over his mask.

Shinn sighed, "Yes, the diligent and responsible Athrun Zala failed to report. I'm going to try again in another two weeks' time and see if he has an excuse."

Creuset leant on his desk and locked his fingers in front of his face as he thought. "Out of all the candidates I could have sent to Orb as a spy, I had thought Zala to be the most suited for the job."

Shinn observed his masked commander and suggested hopefully, "He was probably caught up with something and couldn't leave."

"We shall assume so for the time being."

* * *

"There's a spy in Orb?" Kira whispered to himself and swayed to his feet.

A spy? In Orb? Why?

Cagalli…. He had to tell Cagalli.

Kira bolted down the corridor, ignoring the noise he was making.

A spy. Called Athrun Zala. In Orb. ZAFT spy in Orb? Why?

He skidded to a halt before he crashed into a berry haired girl in female version of the ZAFT's soldier's uniform. The girl looked at him with surprised eyes. "Can I help you?"

Kira gazed about him frantically, trying to find an escape route.

"Are you lost? Why are you here so late? This area is authorised personnel only…"

"What does Athrun Zala look like?"

The girl blinked at him, "Excuse me?"

"What does Athrun Zala look like?"

"FAITH Knight Athrun Zala?"

Oh fairy of Clyne, the spy was a knight?

The girl twisted a lock of her short hair, "handsome, navy hair up to about here and green eyes. About…" she eyed him up and down, "your age and size."

Alex Dino. The image of the young man's appearance at the birthday ball flashed into his mind.

Kira had just left a ZAFT spy as his imposter in Orb.

An alarm started to sound and the girl peered around her.

They found the two unconscious soldiers at the wall, Kira realised and shoved past the girl rudely.

Behind him the girl cried out in alarm and another voice joined hers.

"Luna!"

"Shinn?" the girl greeted, confused.

"An intruder had been reported to have infiltrated the building. Have you seen anyone suspicious?"

Kira didn't hear anymore as he ran like a demon down the corridors. He was in the enemy's terrain - they knew the layout better than he did – and he was panicking too much to think clearly. All he could think of was to get out of ZAFT as quickly as possible. How could he have been so stupid as to leave a spy beside his sister?

He was getting more and more lost. Every corridor and doorway looked the same. He needed to calm down and think.

Finding a hallway empty he stopped in his tracks to calm himself down.

Two deep breathes.

And he dodged as he was attacked from the rear.

A masked man waved a sword at him almost tauntingly. "Good. You dodge well."

Kira clenched his teeth and flashed his armourized sword to his hand. His opponent raised an eyebrow and struck like a viper.

Hissing as the man's sword barely skimmed his arm, Kira lunged to one side and fought back.

CLANG. The masked man blocked his attack, "Who are you and what did you sneak in here for?"

Purple eyes flashing, Kira detached his sword from the enemy's and rushed in with a flurry of blows. The masked man allowed a small amused grin to cross his features and parried, defended, blocked and dodged his attacks as sleek as silk.

Kira didn't have time for this though. Instead, seeing that his chances of escaping getting slimmer by each passing second, he purposefully flashed on his entire armour and with a burst from his wings, and rocketed into his opponent.

He had expected the man to dodge and he didn't fail his expectations. The masked man leapt to one side and Kira crashed right through the windows behind him.

Glass shards rained around him but Kira tucked his face down and blasted through the air outside, the shards bounced harmlessly off his armour.

When he was clear of the glass, he shot like an arrow for the sky. He had to get back to Orb.

A being with giant fuchsia coloured wings appeared in front of him, a silhouette against the bright moon.

A black haired boy glared at him and summoned an armourized sword from the air. "You shall not pass me." The youth's crimson eyes blazed.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

* * *

**Rocy**: It's okay. I like questions. Thanks for the review

**CriTicAl**: Go Kira indeed… at least I hope I haven't failed it here…

**KiKi Hayashi**


	26. Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six – Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?**

* * *

"You shall not pass me," Shinn growled and the intruder eyed him from head to toe as if he was assessing his strength.

Impatient as always, Shinn charged first. The intruder blocked his attack with his sword, eyes cool, calm and collected. "You're too rash in your actions," the intruder pointed out and Shinn blinked to find the guy had suddenly dropped out of the sky.

Shinn stumbled in the air slightly from the sudden lack of resistance against his sword and caught the intruder flashing his wings back on and whizz past below him.

Swearing, Shinn urged a burst of power into his own fuchsia coloured wings and bolt after him.

* * *

Yzak was pacing the floor impatiently when Shiho poked her head out of the door and announced Milly was perfectly healthy and fine but tired.

"I could hear your grumbling from inside the bedroom," said Shiho as she opened the door wider to let the boys in.

Milly was laid on the bed, propped up with a mountain of pillows and eyes tired like her twenty-four hours sleep wasn't enough. She nibbled on a slice of bread slathered with enough honey to make Yzak grimace.

Dearka climbed and sat on the bed immediately, running over her with worried eyes. Milly smiled and touched his wooden arm reassuringly. "You're fixed."

"Yzak fixed my wooden parts so many times that he could probably do the magic circles backwards and blindfolded," Dearka laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm clean and have new clothes too."

She smiled and withdrew her hand. "I noticed." She finished her bread, licked her lips and folded her hands in her lap. "I'm ready for your questions."

Yzak moved closer to the bed and Shiho followed, curious and ready to fight for a right to stay if Yzak wanted to kick her out of the room.

"Who are you?" Yzak barked.

Milly opened her mouth - her lips struggled to make words then shook her head as she gave up after a few minutes of her mouth moving like a goldfish's. "I cannot answer that question. It… I can't make the words come out."

"So Dearka told me."

"You may call me Milly though - that much I could say."

"Very well, Milly. Where are you from? Where did you live? Why were you in that garden where Dearka found you?"

Again she struggled and Yzak pulled a wad of paper, ink and quill from somewhere on his body. "Write," he ordered.

She picked up the quill, dipped it in the inkbottle and moved to the page.

Dearka leant closer, half of him wondering why he never thought of asking her to write but it mattered not anyway, for Milly couldn't write about herself either. Her hand froze and she bit her lip as she tried to force it to move. She strained her fingers and wrist, her arm twitched slightly with all the effort she placed on forcing the words to the page.

The ink dripped from the tip of the quill to the page and that was the only mark she could make on it.

* * *

"GHUAAAAAAAAA!" Shinn cried as he rushed his opponent from behind. The white armoured intruder dodged, blue wings pulsing with energy as he spiralled through the air and continued his escape.

Completely ignoring any possible orders of return or to wait for backup (not that he could hear any orders shouted from ground level at this height), Shinn sped after him and brought his sword swinging down on his opponent.

The intruder flipped in mid-air, wings still rocketing him along and snapped his own blade across the air to deflect Shinn's.

Shouting in fury, the ZAFT soldier slammed his sword down again only to be blocked and shoved away so hard that he flailed in the air for a few seconds before he could pursue him again.

He flew at him like a fuchsia arrow, sword ripping through the night air and clashed it against the white armoured intruder's.

* * *

Milly's fingers turned white and the quill was all but crushed in her hands as she continued to force her background to be written on the page. Suddenly, a hand touched her writing hand and she wondered if she should relax now.

"Keep trying," Yzak's voice commanded and his fingers positioned themselves a few millimetres above her skin, crackling and glowing magic.

Shiho and Dearka came to peer closer.

Milly felt her body tense and freeze up as she continued to force words out of her hand. Anything. A sentence, a word, a letter, a punctuation mark, a picture, a stroke… Anything.

"Enough," Yzak ordered and Milly dropped the quill to clutch her wrist like she sprained it.

"I'm sorry," the girl apologised and her body relaxed once more now that she wasn't trying to give away information about herself.

Yzak's frown deepened and he pinched the bridge of his nose as he hissed at his thoughts. "You have magical abilities. No. You possess a powerful amount of magic in your system but it's very unstable… where or how did you get it?"

Milly furrowed her chest brows, "I'm unsure. I've never had magic as long as I've remembered."

"You're also cursed. You cannot reveal anything about yourself."

"We gathered that," Dearka remarked drily. "Can you do anything about it?"

"No… the same way I cannot do anything with our own curses, Dearka."

Dearka paused and almost dreaded asking, "Her curse… is it… by the same person as ours?"

Yzak unfolded his arms and his eyes darted towards Shiho, gauging if she should be included in the conversation. The ex-slave girl threw him a glare with her fists clenched at her sides, daring him to walk around the bed and physically throw her out of the room.

"Close the door," he ordered her after a while and Shiho's face was graced with a victorious grin.

* * *

Kira parried and blocked blow after blow. The raven-haired boy was strong, he allowed himself to admit that and recklessly talented. Everything about his fighting style was reckless - his sword slashes, his attacks, his speed. Each time Kira fought him off, he charged right back at him like a magenta lightning bolt, crashing against him and shoving him metres through the night air.

He was half distracted to continue this savage sword-fight with the kid - to test his own skills and that of his opponent's.

Then Cagalli's image appeared in his head and he decided that with this kid pestering him like an annoying fly, he was not getting anywhere near home.

It was time to knock the fly out of the room.

* * *

Yzak turned to Milly. "How do you know Flow the Wolf?"

The reaction was instant. Milly's hair raised, eyes flared wild and angry whilst her nails dug into the blankets so deeply that it looked like she wanted to tear it up. "She was the witch that sealed me in the tower."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Why did she seal you? What made you such a threat that she must seal you?"

Milly's mouth opened to bark and screamed the answer out but her words turned into a series of coughs as her throat constricted. Shiho came to her side and rubbed her back as she coughed and gagged violently.

"I can't say it," Milly gasped as she fought for breath.

"Say what you can, sift through your memories and words. Turn them vague and so none of it reveal who you are," ordered Yzak. His commanding and unyielding stance didn't waver, even when Milly went into another series of coughs and clutched her head in despair.

"She… tried to kill… me…" Milly said, fighting with her mind and mouth, "She wanted my name."

Dearka moved to her knee and placed a hand on it to give her his support. She thanked him with a pained smile before trying for words again. "She wanted to kill… me… but then just as I thought that I was going to die…I think… my magic kicked in and protected me."

"And preserved you until Dearka found you."

"Yes… I think." Milly doubled over, hands clawing at her throat and chest. She wanted to say more, so much more, but she couldn't. It wouldn't let her.

* * *

Shinn drew in a sharp intake of breath when his opponent's eyes grew dull and lost its shine like he was possessed. He couldn't even blink when his sword was shoved backwards along with himself. The intruder sprang at him.

There was a clashing of metal as Shinn tried to deflect a blur of blows and sparks flew with each collision.

KLLLLLNNNKKKKKKK

Shock was evident on his face as his own armourized sword snapped clean in half. An armourized sword… in half…?

The intruder's sword gleamed with only a few dents and scratches to show its battle.

"I told you, you're too rash," his opponent stated coldly, his wings aglow with bright energy.

Shinn could only scream in pain was the intruder collide right into him with the force of a collapsing building.

* * *

Yzak started whispering something and his hand moved from his side to touch the air about Milly's hair. Dearka and Shiho both felt the girl relax and slump in their arms as Yzak's calming spell passed through her and put her to sleep.

"That's enough for today," Yzak said tiredly and his eyes snapped to Shiho's ones with annoyance. "No questions."

The girl didn't argue and though he didn't show it, he was grateful. He hissed as his scar on his face throbbed slightly - it was getting late.

"Watch over her," he ordered and left the room. Dearka followed, running to keep up with Yzak's harsh long strides.

"About Milly…"

"What I said to Hahnenfuss also applies to you, Elsman."

"Fine. Be like that." Dearka sighed and threw up his hands like Yzak was a lost cause.

He continued to follow Yzak through the castle. "Was it really fine for Hahnenfuss to hear all that?"

Yzak didn't answer him.

"Tch, why is she even here in the first place? A cutie like her stuck with a beast like you! It's like a story, Shiho and the Beast."

Yzak was angry and he blamed his throbbing scar when he blurted out, "Beauty and Yzak!"

They paused in their strides the Dearka laughed. "Beauty, eh?"

Yzak gnashed his teeth, magic uncontrollably angry about his body as he clutched his scar painfully. He kicked at the wooden puppet, knocking him to the floor before storming off into the dark corridors of the castle.

Dearka was still laughing as he disappeared.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

* * *

**CriTicAl**: I haven't considered Shinn meeting Cagalli…. I'll have to think about it. Thanks

**Moi**: No, Meer just have identity crisis and thinks she's the Eternal Fairy. Sorry for the confusion. I too enjoy it whenever Shinn (much as I love him) gets his ass handed to him on a silver platter…

**No updates next week. Sorry. And no, Shinn is still alive.**

**KiKi Hayashi**


	27. Kiss the Girl

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – Kiss the Girl

* * *

**

Cagalli checked her dress scornfully and tried to move folds of her long skirts around to see if she could improve the manoeuvrability of the garment. Athrun watched with amusement and she glowered at him. "I don't like wearing dresses."

"I noticed," he said with a smile and pointed at her hair, "Are you sure those feathers and your tiara would not fall off during the dance?"

Cagalli fingered a stray lock of blonde and scowled. "No, they should not. There's so many pins and clips in here that my scalp has gone numb with pain."

He laughed and reached over to straighten her crooked tiara. She snapped his hands away, face slightly pinked by the closeness. He tilted his head and regarded her with curiosity.

"You're avoiding me," he noted when the servants left the area.

She turned her back to him,."I was not."

He caught her arm, keeping track of when they were to go on stage, and spun her to face him. Part of him knew that they were expected to go on stage in barely a few minutes and that causing an argument now would not be a good thing but he barged on anyway. "You refuse to look or even touch me, how are we expected to dance this performance without full cooperation from both sides?"

"I was not avoiding you," she protested through clenched teeth.

His brows furrowed, "you are…why?" he ran through his memories, "you…"

"Because I was getting comfortable with you!" Cagalli snapped loudly and shook him off with a blush. She crossed her arms and huffed. "I was starting to get comfortable in your presence and I don't like it."

He was slightly shocked and confused, so he ruffled his navy locks, "Excuse me?"

"You're only here to impersonate my brother. I don't know who you are, where you're from and what your intentions are. But without me knowing, I was getting used to you being around and it irritates me."

"Um… sorry?"

She glared at him with eyes that could kill. Then picked up her skirts and whirled onto the stage. He stared at the back of her piled blonde hair and the feathers and hairclips decorating it, suddenly surprised by how she suddenly seemed so small and…girlish.

He followed as she curtseyed so beautifully that he wondered if she was the same girl he had practiced dancing with. It seemed that she reserved all her grace for these formal demonstrations rather than practicing it on a daily basis.

He bowed to the audience then to the princess. The citizens of Orb that was watching the stage intently, clapped and cheered loudly as the musicians asked for silence.

He turned to Cagalli and he noticed how her eyes turned steel and emotions drained from them with each blink. Why was she distancing herself from him? Or was this her way of dealing with stage fright?

The orchestra began and they moved forward, hands lightly touching each other's and her head arched at such a gentle angle that he was struck by the delicacy of her action.

They danced.

Her eyelids lowered and her pupils rolled the corner of her eye to regard him. "Stop acting nervous," she whispered as he led her around the stage, her skirts and ribbons flowing in the air around them in their wake.

"Easier said than done," he answered and nearly tripped over her feet for he could not see her legs as clearly in among the skirts. She ad-libbed and moved them into a spin to disguise his misstep.

Eyes still void of her usual sparkle of mischief, she hissed at him as they danced across the stage, "Just dance properly already!"

He glared back at her at her. "I'm trying my best. I've never danced in front of so many people before."

He moved to dip her and she gracefully arched back, throat exposed and he couldn't help staring at it. He hoped the audience would not spot the pink dust across his nose and if they do, not to find it strange to see the prince blushing at his sister.

He gently lifted her upright and swept her into the next few steps of the dance. Twirling, spinning, gliding and whirling around the stage, praying for the song to be over soon for it seemed to go on forever.

When it was over, he was surprised to find two emotions within him. One was relief that the horrid performance was over and the second was disappointment. He was strangely disappointed that it was over.

She curtseyed to the crowd and they gave her so much applause, whistles and cheers that she beamed happily at them and then did the unladylike thing of cheering with them.

"Yeeeeeesssss!" she screamed and they cheered back. She laughed and all Athrun could do was watch her as she put her hands on her hips and loudly stated with pride that she would not have to do that silly dance for another year.

"Come on, Kira," she called and Athrun hurried smiled at the audience and bowed his leave.

Backstage again, Cagalli instantly started ripping the ribbons and pins from her hair. He watched with fascination. She was an interesting girl to him.

"Cagalli! My sweet!" a voice called and Athrun was pushed aside as a purple haired man rushed through the curtains that offered the royal siblings some privacy. The man dropped a ridiculously large bouquet of flowers in one of the princess's hands and complimented her other hand with his lips.

"You look simply beautiful in that dress," the purple haired man said with his teeth glinting.

Cagalli tried to be polite but her tone suggested an eye-roll. "Good afternoon to you too, Lord Yuuna."

She spotted Athrun trying to slip away and wasn't going to let him go that easily, "Kira, this is Lord Yuuna, I believe you have met?"

Athrun froze and sent her a resentful look, which she smiled to in return. Yuuna nodded at him as a greeting and returned his attention to Cagalli who he flattered once again with a brushing of lips on her knuckles.

"Cagalli, dear. You must dine with me tonight. I could have a magnificent dinner set up if you like. Out in the open, under the stars."

The blonde smiled weakly, "No…I'm fine, you are too kind." She tried to extract herself when he suddenly wrapped an arm about her shoulders and insisted on dinner.

"I believe it's a grand thing that your family and mine get along so well. We'll be wonderful together and the envy of the capital."

"Yuuna, please, I've just finished an exhausting dance and still have many documents to work on. I cannot dine with you." Cagalli squirmed and anger flashed through her honey brown eyes for a second as she contemplated skewering Yuuna's eyeballs with one of the nasty hairclips in her hands.

"Nonsense, dinner it shall be. Come, let's go," the man announced.

"Yuuna," Cagalli growled threateningly but was stopped when a hand neatly picked Yuuna's hands off her shoulder.

Athrun smiled forcefully at her purple-haired suitor, "Cagalli still has a lot of work to do," he explained clearly and coldly, "She would not have time to dine with you tonight, I apologise."

He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the curtains of backstage and away from Yuuna who only stared.

Athrun pushed her into the carriage that was waiting to take them back to the palace and turned to the driver. "Take us back," he demanded crisply and slammed the door shut when he climbed in.

They felt the carriage move under their feet and Cagalli closed the curtains of the carriage to give them privacy. She sat back and crossed her arms about her chest.

"I wasn't suppose to leave yet," she hissed, "I was supposed to stay there and…"

His voice cut through hers like a knife, "You obviously didn't want to stay with Yuuna."

She blinked then narrowed her eyes. "It's none of your business, Dino. I can handle him myself."

Athrun ruffled his hair and Cagalli looked away. The action was suddenly cute in her eyes and she disliked it.

"Princess, I may be your brother's imposter but I am a man. I'm not about to let you be dragged into the company of another man who you don't like without doing something about it."

"I said I could take care of myself," she hissed.

The carriage kept going and they felt it turn a corner. Athrun leant back on his seat opposite her. "I apologise, your highness, if I had upset you. But you have been trying to avoid me so… I don't really know what you want anymore. One minute you avoid me and the next you look at me with eyes telling me to save you from that man…"

She snapped at him, "I never made such eyes to you!"

"You most certainly did," he insisted and leant forward so his elbows rested on his knees as if that posture would make him look correct.

"I did not!"

"Well, sorry, I misread then. It's hard to read your actions when you avoid me like a plague."

"I told you! I don't like being comfortable with you! I don't know you!" her voice escalated. "I don't know you at all! For all I know, you could be an enemy! Kira was rash to leave you here as his imposter and I grudgingly have to accept it because nobody else could have the illusion. I don't want to be comfortable with a man who might only be getting close to the royal family to kill us!"

His eyes hardened to green ice. "I would never kill you!"

"How can I be certain of that?" she spat with complete distrust.

How could she be certain? How should he answer when he didn't know himself? He was never ordered to kill her and…he glanced at her, if they did order him to… if Le Creuset did order him or if King Durandal did order him to kill her…could he bear to drive his blade through her heart?

"I would never kill you," he repeated dangerously low and utterly serious. For the moment, he truly meant his words. For the moment, he truly would never kill her. For the moment…he… he cared about the crazy princess who dragged him into millions of dances on her birthday ball.

"What are you staring at?"

"You! You idiot! I couldn't, wouldn't and never will be able to kill you!" he hissed.

She stared at him, suddenly quiet.

"Liar," She mouthed and suddenly he was out of his seat, dagger in hand and jumped at her. Her body acted instantly, she dodged to one side, armour flashing to her fist as she brought it up to smash into his ribs.

He caught her wrist and wrenched it up so that it sailed safely away from his chest and only punched the air. His hand shoved her shoulder and she crashed backwards so that she was lying across the plush seats of the carriage.

Eyes flashing in outrage, she summoned armour to her legs and kicked out. He sat on her hips, straddling her to stop her legs from lifting and pressed the sharp dagger to her throat. His emerald eyes were so cold that they have become stone.

"I could kill you now," he breathed into her face and she stared defiantly back.

"Go ahead," she taunted, "if you can that is, for I won't go down without figh-!"

"But I can't!" he shouted and she looked at him with wide eyes, "I care about you, princess."

"Absurd!" she spat.

"I can't kill you now!" he repeated and he didn't allow her time to open her mouth and respond.

He pulled his dagger away, leant down until his navy hair dangling on her face and pressed his lips so hard against her own that she froze completely and could only stare at him with alarm.

It all happened so quickly. One minute they were dancing, the next he was dragging her into a carriage and then the argument, the fight and now…

Her other arm flashed with bright armour and punched him right in the stomach.

He gasped and rolled right off to the floor of the carriage. She followed him with a fierce growl and reversed the straddling position he had on her, uncaring if it was unladylike or improper.

"For Eternal's sake! I said I care about you!" he cursed in frustration and reached up to catch her shoulder.

"Dino, get your hands off me this-mmph!" his lips were urgent and mashed against her own almost painfully. She battered his arms, shoulders and chest with her fists but still he kept his arms of steel around her. Keeping her there like a caged bird.

After a while, she forgot about beating him and their argument and his lips lightened its pressure and she found them soft and gentle.

His arms loosened and he held her delicately like a china doll as she slowly, shyly tried to kiss him back.

He pulled back when he finally needed air and winced openly, "Princess, you punch like an ox."

She scowled at him. "I still don't trust you, you know."

He smiled and allowed her out of his arms. He slowly sat up, rubbing his arms and chest sorely. "I know you don't." He turned his attention to her eyes and she blushed before turning away. "I still would never kill you though."

"I shouldn't get attached to you," she continued with arms crossed about her chest again. Athrun laughed and reached over to tuck a stray strand of blonde behind her ear.

"I know," he whispered, "We shouldn't."

But he kissed her again anyway.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

* * *

**I apologise for OOC**

**Rocy**: Shinn is a little too stubborn to just admit defeat like that, so yes, expect a rematch somewhere

**Angelique**: I'll see what I can do…though Shiho x Yzak should be coming up soon…(checks) okay…maybe not for another few chapters… but I'll see what I can do!

**KiKi Hayashi**


	28. Wandering free, wish I could be

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight –Wandering free, wish I could be...

* * *

**

Kira was curled in a rough blanket when Lacus's Haro rolled over, its freezing cold surface nudged against his cheek. He was silently huffing and angry for the genie had begged him to stop for the night when all he wanted to do was rush back to Orb and apprehend Athrun Zala.

The Haro nudged him a few more times and with a sigh, he rubbed it with a finger. Lacus came out in her glittering pink and cloudy form. He could sense that she was faintly amused and touched with sympathy.

"Kira, you were practically dropping off your saddle with exhaustion," Lacus commented gently and he felt a tendril of sparkles extend from her cloudy body and rest on his head, like a mother would rest a hand on her child's hair.

After a long while, he sighed and rolled onto his back to gaze at the cloud-covered night sky. Strike, his horse, grazed on the random bits of grass the rocky landscape offered and provided background sounds to the otherwise quiet night. The horse was delightfully grateful that it could finally rest after so many days of hard journeying.

"I wanted to get back to Orb as soon as possible," he whispered to the night air and wrapped the blankets closer about him.

Lacus lay down beside him on the rocky floor, completely unaffected by the chill in the air. "Your sister is strong. She could take care of herself."

Kira chuckled, "She is... but I still worry."

Lacus laughed and they laid there with their back to the ground and face to the heavens whilst silence reigned.

"Who are you, Lacus?" Kira asked and the genie blinked. She had thought he had fallen asleep.

"I'm the genie of this Haro," she ventured.

"No, I meant... your background. Who were you became a genie?"

Lacus pondered on the question, "I'm actually a Clyne."

He smiled, "I know."

Haro rolled around Lacus's form lazily, "I am a Clyne who was sealed in the Haro and forced to become a genie by a witch."

"That I also know that."

Lacus thought for a long time. "If I told you I was the Fairy of Clyne, the one that bears gifts for you all in your dreams, what would you do?"

Kira stiffened then turned his eyes to the glitter cloud beside him. "Are you?"

"If I say yes?"

"Then I'll say that you're the girl of my dreams and I think I love you."

"Think?"

Kira's blush was barely noticeable in their limited light. "I am fairly sure but there's still a little doubt in me. But I'll know for sure if I meet her again." His eyes were almost begging her by this time and the hope was suffocating.

She could only weakly laugh, "I don't think I'm the girl you're looking for."

It was painful to watch his hope crushed like that so she turned away and stared determinedly at the hills upon hills of rock and tufts of random vegetation. He was silent for longer this time before he cleared his throat.

"What do you wish for, Lacus?"

Surprise was an understatement for Lacus's expression. She had just crushed all his hopes with a single sentence and he was asking her what she wished for? She must have heard him wrong. "Excuse me?"

"What do you wish for, Lacus?"

She was confused. "Why?"

He shrugged awkwardly on the ground, blanket drawn to his chin.

She frowned. "You should rest, Kira. Even your horse is snoozing."

"What do you wish for?" he insisted.

It suddenly dawned to her what he was aiming to do,. "Kira, please don't waste a wish on me."

He was quiet again then whispered, "I'm not wasting it. It's not a waste. I don't think it's a waste."

"Kira...you should sleep, you still have to journey tomorrow."

"Let me hear your wish first and then I'll sleep."

"Kira, I have told my wish to many masters and not a single one granted it. I do not wish to be disappointed again."

His expression was resolute but his voice was gentle, "I won't disappoint you. I promise I'll use one of my wishes for yours."

The pink cloud rolled to one side and Kira was under the impression that she was staring at him.

"I wish for freedom."

"Freedom?"

"I wish to be free of the Haro. I've been trapped as a genie for too long."

"Can you do that?"

"Do? Oh, be free? If you wish it then yes. As long as you wish it and it does not fall into the forbidden wishes, I could grant your wish."

"I'll use my last wish for you then." And he closed his eyes to drift into dream world. Lacus couldn't resist touching his hair with her hand again and carefully pulled strands, which had gotten too long, from his eyes.

* * *

"I'm going to ZAFT." Milly said with eyes blazing in determination, arms crossed about her chest and lips almost in a childish pout.

Dearka, now magically fixed by Yzak and no longer looking like broken doll copied her pose, "Milly, you have no need to go to ZAFT. You have a better chance of finding a way of breaking you curse here in the castle with Yzak!"

Milly was adamant, "I _need_ to go to ZAFT! You don't understand!"

"Why though? Why are you going?"

Milly pursed her lips and refused eye contact with the puppet. "I can't say it. _It_ doesn't allow me to say it."

"It?"

"My curse."

"It's...got something to do with your past?"

"Yes."

Dearka sighed dramatically and paced the floor in frustration. "Fine, I'm going with you."

"You can't go with me!"

"Why?"

"Because you're... you're a puppet! People will stare at you once you're in the city."

"As if a thumb size girl would get less attention!"

"They wouldn't notice me for I'm so small!"

"Milly! I am not about to let you endanger yourself! It will take you months to inch your way through that forest outside much less to ZAFT! I may be small but I can go faster than you! I was a ZAFT soldier when I was human! I was trained in stealth and with Yzak, for Eternal's sake!"

"I want to go to ZAFT to see if anybody would recognise me... I have a feeling it might break my curse."

"You're going all the way to the city on a feeling?" the puppet boomed. For such a small thing, he had a loud voice when he wanted to. Then he paused and turned her words in his mind. "Wait... you're from ZAFT? You're a ZAFT citizen?"

Milly's lips pursed again and then she tried opening her mouth to form words.

Nothing came out and every muscle on her face froze up until she gave up and it loosened.

"I'll go with you," a voice interrupted.

They glanced up and found Shiho by the door, looking like she just came in, found them arguing and stopped to watch.

"Shiho?" Milly asked.

"I'm a ZAFT soldier. I only got trapped here unwillingly but once Yzak manages to disable the forcefield, I could take you to ZAFT, since I have to return anyway."

"Shiho could come with me," Milly said, turning to glare at her puppet friend.

Dearka paced the carpet again. He felt that he was responsible for this girl he found in the tower and leaving her to venture so far by herself was ... wrong...

"I'll go with you," he said firmly.

"Dearka, don't be difficult..." started Milly.

Another voice interrupted their discussion again, "Actually, Dearka will go with you."

It was the puppet's turn to question the newcomer, "Yzak?"

"Dearka would go with you... Hahnenfuss, move your useless self away from the door," he snapped and the ex-slave girl glared at him before grumblingly moving aside so the wizard could get into the room. He was pulling along a giant stack of levitating books.

"Dearka, double check these books for me," he ordered and the puppet looked positively aghast. "The force-field is not going anywhere and neither are you."

The books crashed to the floor with a dusty thud and Yzak flipped the top page of one of them open. "I've scoured the books..."

"Haven't you read every single stupid book in this castle already?"

Yzak growled, "You forgot how accursed this castle is! Half the books are locked under charms, wards and spells so complex it would fry you if I chuck you towards them. Of course, I haven't read all the books! I'm too busy unlocking them!"

The wizard fingered the yellowing pages in his hands, "These are from the new batch I unlocked and I only skimmed through them quickly but I notice constant mentions of the world of Eternal and the Clynes."

"As in the Fairy of Clyne?"

"Her kind, yes, and Eternal – their home."

"What does this got to do with..."

"Use your stupid wooden head for once! What or who in this world is the closest thing relating to the Clynes?"

It took only a few minutes before Shiho spoke up, "Princess Meer of ZAFT."

"Correct, so Dearka, you're taking a trip to visit the princess."

"Score!"

"But in the mean time, Hahnenfuss, you're coming with me. Magic circles don't draw themselves. And Dearka, Milly, you are reading these books."

Dearka narrowed his painted on eyes. "I hate you."

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

* * *

**Rocy**: I don't think a normal first kiss could happen especially with Cagalli being a participant...

**Jon**: I tried my best and am happy you like it so far! Thank you!

**CriTicAl**: agreed! I don't know how Cagalli could resist him for so long!

**Amyana**: Thank you!

**:D**: Happy to be of service (bows ungracefully). Am glad you like the fic

**KiKi Hayashi**


	29. The only rule is

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine – The only rule is: Thou shalt not get caught

* * *

**

One would expect Le Creuset to be in a foul mood when he discovered Shinn had allowed the intruder to escape.

One would expect him to fly into a rage like a normal commander would when their subordinates failed at completing something of such great importance.

Indeed, Rau Le Creuset was angry but only for the first five minutes and it was more annoyance than anger. Afterwards, the young commander sat at his desk for long and Shinn wondered if he should dismiss himself or stay standing where he was - it was hard to read the Le Creuset's expression when it was permanently covered by a white mask.

"Shinn," Le Creuset suddenly said and the raven-haired boy snapped his heels together and straightened his back to attention. "Return to Orb immediately and stay at that rendezvous point you have arranged with Sir Zala. Inform him that his position is exposed."

"Is it not better for me to-"

"No, Asuka, it would not be easier for you to sneak into Orb to find him." The commander leant forward on his desk and laced his fingers in front of his mask as he thought. "You wouldn't know where to find him especially because he have failed to report to you previously. There is a possibility that he had been founded out and dead already. Nevertheless, return to the rendezvous point and remain there until a few days after Zala is due his next report. If he still fails to show up, you will return and we'll mark this mission as a failure."

"Failure? But..."

The blonde man silenced him by raising a hand. "Just rest for tonight, Shinn. Inform Hawke and Za Burrel to see me in the morning. They shall accompany you on this trip."

"I can do this on my own!"

"You can but if Zala had indeed been found out then you might be flying right into a trap. Bring them with you."

Shinn's lips formed a grim line. "Yes sir."

* * *

Athrun never kissed Cagalli after that day of the dance – and he was both disappointed and glad of that. Disappointed for he actually meant what he said in that carriage – he cared for her genuinely but to what degree, he couldn't confirm yet.

He certainly found the princess an appealing and interesting girl and kissing her that day had been... nice and soft and almost felt like he could ignore everything else but afterwards, when he had time to think back, he also thought it to have been too emotional and rash.

He should have better control of himself than that. He was here for a mission. He was a coordinator and she was not. He was a knight of ZAFT and she was the princess and future ruler of Orb. They would have no future and for that he was happy he never kissed her after that time in the carriage

Thankfully, Cagalli seemed as confused about her own feelings and that of his as he was. She carefully kept her distance and pretended that the kiss never happened - a pretence that he was all too happy to go along with.

So they continued with their daily activities, drinking tea, reading documents and rearranging bookshelves.

Until one morning, Athrun woke up, got changed and only to have the servant, who brought him breakfast every morning, drop his tray and scream bloody murder at him.

"What are you doing in his highness's chambers? Who are you? Where is Prince Kira?"

"Wha-" Athrun started to say, confused over the servant's sudden outburst. "You can see me?" he asked, looking at the mirror as if that could solve everything.

The servant started to run, voice crying dangerously loud for help and successfully killing Athrun's eardrums for a moment.

The knight reacted fast and clonked the servant across the head. The illusion shattered? But how?

He shoved servant's unconscious body in the closet before bolting to Cagalli's bedroom. He was in luck, the maids were just leaving by the time he arrived and he managed to slip in without being noticed right after the last of them left.

"Alex?"Cagalli regarded his reflection in her mirror curiously from where she sat at her dressing table. "Something wrong?"

"The illusion," he reported, "It stopped working."

She blinked her honey browns at him before slowly asking, "It… what?"

"Stopped working, shattered, malfunctioning," he listed almost sarcastically, raking his fingers through his own hair in frustration before stopping the action and calmly tried to compose himself.

Cagalli rolled her eyes and chucked her hairbrush at him which he snatched out of the air before it hit him. She hurriedly slid her tiara in place and got out of her chair. "Yes I know what 'stop working' meant but how?"

He shrugged, "I don't know… unless…"

"Unless?"

"Unless…"

The two shared a look, understanding flickering between them and Cagalli pulled her tiara back out and kicked off her shoes. "Kira's back," she declared and he agreed before turning around as she darted behind a screen and quickly changed from her dress.

Barely thirty minutes later, Athrun watched, utterly amazed, at how the princess effortlessly barged into her father's study (completely ignoring the queue of men that was waiting outside to meet his majesty) and convinced the ruler of Orb for herself to be excused for the morning.

"Morning? Whatever for?" her father questioned, his pen stopped moving across the documents and he stared at Cagalli with a curious gaze which flickered occasionally to Athrun who was waiting just outside the doors that Cagalli gracefully forgot to shut behind her. He never recall seeing this servant about the castle before. Was he new?

"Something important," Cagalli said with her arms crossed about her chest. Her father eyed her choice of simple clothing.

"Something important?" he asked and replaced his pen to its holder to peer at her intently. "You're going outside the castle?"

"Yes," she replied honestly and with determination.

"Why?"

"I can't say."

His majesty frowned upon hearing this answer then leant forward on his desk, deep in thought. After a while, he took a deep breath. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yes and very clearly."

"Very well then," the king sighed and dismissed her, "Just be safe."

Cagalli broke into a rare smile and replied, "Of course, father."

Then she broke into a run, dragging Athrun behind her and burst into the garden.

Athrun was surprised to say the least. "Just like that? His majesty lets you out just like that? You're the heir and princess! What if something happened to you?"

Were all princesses allowed out of the castle so easily? No, Meer used to complain about protocol, rules and half a million other things just for tiny visits to anywhere in the city.

"Are you afraid of heights, Alex?"

"No," Athrun answered then tried to move for an exit, "Shall I get the stables to ready the horses? Where are your accompanying guards?"

"Horses?" she laughed then caught his arm and, to his surprise, hugged him. "You better not be heavy," she muttered before she flashed on her rose coloured armour and shot to the sky before he could even splutter.

"Your highness!" he cried incredulously, he was being dangled hundreds of metres above the ground with only her arms around him to keep him from plummeting to his death.

Not that he could really plummet to his death since he himself could summon armour and in turn his own wings if she indeed dropped him but the less Cagalli knew of his abilities the better.

"This is dangerous!" he shouted as wind rushed past his face.

"Don't complain," she shouted back, "You're heavy enough as it is. Don't tempt me to drop you."

She circled the air, trying to predict which way her brother will return by. In the end, she flew north-west – where if you continue in a straight line, would bring you to ZAFT.

* * *

Cagalli shielded her eyes from the sun as she scanned the horizon, her wings pulsing blue energy to keep her afloat

"How would he know we're here?" Athrun shouted from the meadow below her.

"We're twins," the princess shouted back, "He should be able to sense where I am."

Athrun nodded then started scanning the surroundings for the prince. Five seconds later, he threw Cagalli a sceptical look. "Twins? Sensing?"

She burst into laughter in the sky. "I kid. I kid."

The coordinator didn't share her amusement. "Very funny."

She stifled her chuckles and explained, "Your illusion vanished so it must mean he's back within Orb and should be near the capital."

"And what makes you think he'll be able to find you in this meadow amongst many others?"

"Obviously because this is the only meadow with bright pink armour floating on top of it," the princess explained with a roll of her eyes.

Athrun was not convinced, "But how would?"

"Cagalli?" A new voice called out and the princess smirked victoriously at the navy-haired spy as there, just outside the tree-line, sat Kira atop his white horse, Strike and a pink sphere bouncing happily about its hooves.

Athrun couldn't believe that Cagalli's plan actually worked.

"Kira! You're back!" Cagalli greeted, glad to see her twin back safe and seemingly unharmed.

She dropped to the grassy floor of the meadow and ran to meet her brother, at least until Kira stiffened noticeably on Strike and his face turn dark with killer intent.

"Dino!" the prince barked and the spy in question looked at him with confusion before cautiously stepped back, appearing nervous but secretly trying to find a better footing.

"Haro!" the Haro bounced and like it was a starting signal, Kira flew off his horse, wrapped full white and blue armour on at the blink of an eye.

"DINO!" Kira raged and rocketed towards the coordinator faster than Cagalli ever seen her brother move.

The Athrun's eyes widened and he masked his attempt to dodge the prince by tripping over his own feet backwards. Even then, Kira still managed to crash into him, dragging him backwards a good few feet with his hands clenching his collar and eyes sparking dangerously.

"What are you doing, Kira?" Cagalli cried hotly, her arm wrapped about her brother's to try and peel them off Athrun.

Kira brushed his sister's hands off. "This guy! This Alex Dino! He's not who we thought he was."

Cagalli's shouting stopped and she stared at her brother with serious eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"He's a spy, from ZAFT!"

Athrun clucked his tongue with fake disbelief, "A spy? Me? I'm only-"

Kira's sword materialised. He pointed it to the navy-haired boy's throat. "You're _only_ a Knight of FAITH, Sir Athrun Zala."

Athrun froze his tongue. Should he continue to bluff? Could he deny it? Would they believe him? His eyes shifted to the princess beside them.

"Athrun? Zala?" Cagalli repeated, words rolling about her mouth and mind in confusion. Her honey brown eyes stared back at him and something in them flickered. Recognition? Of his face? His name? Both?

Regardless, it seemed that his mask had finally shattered.

"Athrun Zala?" Cagalli tried again, this time with less hesitation.

Athrun ran through his options at lightning speed in his mind. Should he surrender? Should he fight and escape? Which one was the better choice? What about Cagalli? Which would be better for her and – wait, when did she get into the equation?

But Kira wasn't going to wait for an answer, instead the prince lunged forward, determined to close the gap between his sword's tip and the coordinator's throat. It was only Athrun's quick reflexes that saved him from instant death.

The knight slapped his hands up and together, armour plating his fingers and palms as he clapped them onto the prince's sword to stop them from truly stabbing through his throat.

"Wait! I can explain!" Athrun shouted as leaning back to put distance between him and the sword that was still clapped in his hands.

Kira merely dropped his sword and pulled out a combat knife that materialised at his hip. Athrun swerved to one side, the prince's attack skimmed the air just millimetres from his clothes.

The prince wasn't going to listen to him?

Well, what did he expect? For if Athrun was in Kira's position, he would have killed himself too.

A spy that was been so integrated into the daily life of the princess who just so happen to also be in charge of so many documents and affairs. It was better to kill him now and think later.

Athrun flashed on his entire armour and with the help of his pulsing red wings, flitted back a few metres. He needed distance, enough for him to shout explanations without Kira cutting his sentences (and Athrun while he's at it) into pieces.

Kira was relentless though, his eyes glazed over and he picked up his sword again.

"ZALA!" the prince roared, shooting forwards and swing his sword violently. Kira's sword clashed against Athrun's newly materialised one.

"Your highness, allow me to explain," the spy tried in an even voice. The words might as well not have been said for Kira wasn't listening. Had the prince always been this irrational?

Kira pulled his sword away and slammed it back again and again from different angles with speed and strength that Athrun had to concentrate to match. Metallic clangs echoed through the air as the prince battered his sword against Athrun's defensive one. He had not expected a pampered prince like Kira to have the same strength and skill calibre as himself.

"Kira! No, I mean, your highness! Stop this!" Athrun cried as sparks fly with each strike of his and Kira's swords. The other boy merely gritted his teeth, eyes still void of shine apart from that of wrath, and smashed attacks again and again and again.

"Your highness! Let me explain!"

There was a sudden cry of "Kira, stop!" then a blur of pink shot forward. It barrelled into Athrun's side in a reckless rush and knocked him to the grassy floor of the meadow.

Athrun blinked to find Cagalli on top of him, legs straddling each side of his hips and one of her hands clasped about his throat, leaving just barely enough room for him to breathe. The other was clutching an armoured pink shield which was blocking Kira's sword from coming down on them.

"Stop, Kira." Cagalli said again, this time firmly. Her twin glared at her for many seconds (for each, Athrun struggled to breathe properly).

"Haro! Haro! Lacus-samaaaa~" Haro cheered happily, bouncing towards them. It broke Kira's focus enough for his eyes to clear and he pulled away his sword.

"Calm down," the princess ordered and her brother glared at the spy trapped by Cagalli's weight.

"Haro!" the sphere chirped again, bouncing up and into Kira's other hand where it spun and flapped its ears cutely until he pulled back a few steps, leaving the situation completely in Cagalli's hands.

Athrun breathed his thanks to Cagalli.

"Don't thank me," the girl snapped, fingers still wrapped solidly about his neck, "You're a spy. From every sensible angle, I should kill you and from every angle, I am justified to do so. ZAFT has betrayed our trust."

Her fingers tightened and he gagged for a few seconds before she loosened them again. "You are strangely calm about me strangling you," she noted with annoyance.

Indeed, Athrun was too calm for this. A normal spy being exposed would have struggled and fought back especially taking into account that Cagalli had done nothing to bind his hands which could, if he chose to, summon his sword again and kill her before she could kill him through suffocation.

"I am surprised myself," Athrun admitted, still lying perfectly still underneath her. "But it seems that both my mind and body are stupidly under the belief that you wouldn't kill me."

Though hurting him… well that's another story. Athrun added in his mind but wouldn't dare voice it out less he really wanted to be gutted there on the spot. "I haven't learnt anything of Orb. Everything I have learnt was what you have revealed to me and that was practically nothing. All I know was some random daily lives of those who reside in the castle. You should know exactly what I've learnt, Cagalli since you never did allowed me out of your sight."

"Shut up," the blonde barked, hands tightening, thoughts wavering and biting her bottom lip in attempt to speed through all the reasoning that was happening in her mind to come to the right choice.

She should kill him.

But he didn't learn anything specific in his time in Orb. She was certain that all the details never made it to his eyes, hands and ears. She hid all her documents and watched him like a hawk but even if he didn't learn anything, she should kill him just for the safe side.

Athrun choked under her grasp, his hands reflexively raising to grab Cagalli's wrists and trying to wrench them off.

Kira watched coldly for a few seconds then turned his face away when his twin's shoulders shuddered.

"I should kill you," she hissed into Athrun's face.

But she couldn't do it. She liked Alex Dino even if it was he was a fake character that Zala made up to fool her.

"Kira?" Cagalli asked finally, "Will I be acting very stupid if I'm to do what I'm going to do?"

The prince glanced at her then looked away again, "Yes, very."

But she did it anyway. She took away her hands from Athrun's neck and got off the coordinator, rolling to her feet.

Athrun gasped for breath then stared at the twins like they were crazy. "You're letting a spy like me free?"

Cagalli stared back at him then after a few seconds, muttered, "You would think that he would be happy we spared his life."

"I could imprison you then arrange an execution if you want," Kira suggested to which Athrun grimaced at then got to his feet, brushing grass from his clothes.

"Are you sure about this?" Athrun asked again. "You really are going to let me go? Just like that? No interrogation?"

"Just go," Cagalli almost snapped feeling his eyes on her as she turned her own away from him.

"You're going to let me go?" he asked annoyingly again.

She really did snap back at him this time. "I said just GO!"

He stood there, turning his head from Kira to Cagalli, repeating that action until he took a deep breath.

Then Athrun kissed her.

One second he was steps away from her and the next, he was right in front of her, lips pressed tenderly on hers.

She was too surprised to respond or even push him away and Kira could only gape at them, wondering if he should just continue to gape or to pull Athrun from his sister savagely.

"I meant all I said in the carriage that day I kissed you," Athrun said clearly as he pulled back to a respectable distance. "I wouldn't and will never be able to kill you."

For an instant, Cagalli's face softened then it was twisted into that wild stern face she liked so much. She kicked a dirt covered rock at his knee with scary precision. "Stop spouting nonsense and just go."

Athrun chuckled, questioning himself as to what was wrong with this girl and would it kill her to show her softer side to him. Cagalli, as if reading his mind, only glared at him more until he turned around and flashed his wings out, ready to take to the sky.

"I was sent to find out Orb's position in this war," he explained, charging up his wings.

"I don't need to hear about your mission details. Just leave before I change my mind!" Cagalli spat then added, "Orb is neutral to the EA and ZAFT conflict. We've always had been and will continue to be!"

"There are always those who are under the belief that you secretly work for the enemy. Considering how much trading your kingdom does with EA."

Kira was the one who argued back this time, "Had ZAFT and Orb not been separated by a giant mountain range, we would trade more with ZAFT too."

Athrun chuckled then smiled back at them. "I'll tell them that. I'll report that Orb is as innocent and as neutral to this war as they claim to be and…" He glanced at Cagalli. "I'll try to stop them from ever thinking otherwise."

Then he shot to the sky and left.

"I don't need your help to change ZAFT's opinion of Orb!" she shouted after him but he was a speck in the sky already.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

* * *

**I apologise for taking so so long on this chapter. It was… difficult (actually that would be an understatement) and my life was and still is a mess. Updates would be on an ASAP basis until life un-messed itself. Sorry (bows repeatedly) but this fic WILL NOT DIE. It will go on to the end (albeit a bit more slowly than I anticipated).**

**Amyana**: Thank you. I tried my best and am happy with the result. My usual writing style is so much more simpler than that of a fairytale so I'm glad when readers like the story. Thank you so much!

**MidnightDilemma**: You don't have to apologise for late reviews (especially when my chapters themselves are so late themselves!). Lacus and Kira are very sweet indeed! I love writing them.

**dEaYrEkSness**: Thanks for the review. As usual, I'm happy you liked the chapters. I tried my best.

**CriTicAl**: Couple time indeed! Couple time everywhere if I can have my way! Actually Shiho is going with Dearka and Milly on the trip so Yzak will be alone in the castle but don't worry, there's couple time before they leave.

**KiKi Hayashi**


	30. Drip, drip drop when the sky is cloudy

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own Gundam Seed, GS Destiny or Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

**Multi-Pairings include: **Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

**Oh look, the story is alive after all. Sorry for not updating it for so a year! *bows deeply* On a side note, I will be writing the rest of this story out as my 50k for NaNoWriMo so I apologise for the rushed writing wuality in advance. I'll come back and fix it up once NaNo is over.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty – Drip, drip drop when the sky is cloudy**

* * *

"Shinn, we should go back. We waited here for a week," Rey announced almost irritably as he watched the raven-haired boy paced the inside of their bedroom. Even Luna, who had been an avid admirer of Sir Zala, was starting to become gloomy on this mission.

"We could wait a few more days," insisted Shinn. "He's only two days late in reporting to us."

Rey frowned deeply, he was a stickler to rules and was highly displeased that Shinn insisted they wait for Zala when it was rather obvious to them that he was not going to appear. The blond appealed to Luna for help, "Lunamaria, try to reason with him."

Luna, who was busy repairing a rip in her spare shirt, peered up and paused her sewing with a sigh, "Maybe we can wait another day. It's not like Sir Zala to miss scheduled dates like these. I'm sure something must be holding him back or…"

Since she had difficulty voicing her words, Rey finished the sentence for her, "He could be caught, imprisoned and dead. Our stay here is not safe anymore."

Shinn thought for a while then shook his head and stubbornly insisted on prolonging their stay for another day before forcefully 'winning' the argument by escaping the room.

Rey groaned and ran a hand through his hair whilst Luna gave him a weak smile, "One more day couldn't hurt us that much, can it?"

* * *

Shinn huffed outside, shivering at the misty rain and wondering if it would ruin his dramatic exit too much if he went back inside to fetch his jacket.

He could not believe that he actually nearly begged to stay just for Athrun. Stupid Zala! What kind of knight is he? Being late in reporting back. Hmph, why was he a knight and not Shinn?

He was so focused on grumbling that he almost failed to see the girl in front of him. "Stellar!"

The blonde blinked up at him, hair wet from the rain and water dripping from her bangs.

"What are you doing without a coat?" he asked, noticing her shivering shoulders. He reached forward and clamp onto her arm before pulling her out of the misty rain and into a sheltered doorway of a nearby house. "It's cold out here, you fool."

Then to his horror, she shrieked and fought desperately to wrench her arm free from him. "Let Stellar go!" she wailed, hands scratching the air and nearly clawing his face.

"What's wrong?" he managed to asked in between her screaming before she lashed out with her legs and kicked him in the knee. Reflexively, Shinn dropped hold of her hand to nurse his limb.

"What is wrong with you, girl?" he cried and tried to catch hold of her again. She was too nimble for him and slipped out of his hold. "Stellar! Oh, curses. Wait up!"

He chased her down the street but she was surprisingly fast so the only way he caught up with her in the end was because she rounded a corner too sharply and ended up slipping and falling into the mud.

"Stellar!" he gasped, trying to help her up but she turned to him with wide horrified eyes.

"Leave Stellar alone. Stellar doesn't know you," she whimpered, dragging herself backwards through the mud in attempt to put as much distance between them as possible.

"What are you talking about? I'm Shinn, remember?"

"Shinn?" she whimpered with her hand raised so that her knuckles brushing her lips uncertainly.

Just when he thought she remembered him, she threw a clump of mud in his face and ran.

"Stellar!" another voice shouted.

"Auel! Sting!" the blonde shouted back and dove in the latter's arms.

Auel wrinkled his nose in distaste at the state of Stellar's clothes and took a step away from the two, "What happened to you? Why are you all muddy?"

"A stranger was chasing after Stellar!" the girl cried and shrieked when Shinn came over, wiping mud angrily off his face.

"Sting, was it? What's wrong with her? She can't remember me and she threw mud at me."

The two boys stared at each other then finally Auel asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm…" Shinn started then what they asked hit him like a hammer. They didn't know who he is? But they were the ones he met when he returned Stellar last time, weren't they? He could understand if they don't remember his name but he figured they at least recognise his face. After all, how many young men in this world run around saving idiots from duck ponds?

"Do you know him, Sting?"

Sting furrowed his brows then unpeeled Stellar from his clothes, grimacing at the mud that's now covering his shirt. "I've never seen him before."

"I'm Shinn… do you not remember m-" his sentence was cut off when he spotted Athrun, tired and soaking wet (obviously from flying through rain) stumbling round the corner of the street.

"Athrun!" he started to yell but then remembered about the mysterious trio he was talking to. He turned around, hoping to say something that could jog their memory but they were gone, halfway down the street and leaving behind a confused coordinator to stare at their backs.

* * *

Both Luna and Rey stared when Athrun came through the door and Shinn fought to hold down a smug grin – who was right now, Za Burrel?

"Athrun!" Luna gasped then stood up, slightly confused as to what she was suppose to do. Salute? Clap him on the shoulder and scold him for making them worry? Poke him to see if he's real?

Rey merely stood up and started looking through their belongings to see if there was any spare clothes Athrun could change into.

"We need to go," Athrun said wearily, accepting the towel Shinn threw at him and started to rub his hair dry.

"Now?" asked Rey, handing the taller male a change of clothes.

"I've been discovered," explained the knight and if the others found it strange that he blatantly left out the detail of exactly _who_ discovered him, they didn't show it. "This isn't a safe place to stay anymore."

The other boys nodded and Luna took it upon herself to go downstairs to arrange a quick departure of the inn. She paused on the stairway and walked back.

"Athrun, can you still fly?"

"I've been flying for thirty hours straight, I think I can continue for a little while longer…"

Luna frowned. "I think you should rest."

"We can't do that!" Shinn protested but Rey surprisingly agreed with their female member.

"Luna is right. A few hours rest would do you good, Sir Zala and perhaps a meal. It wouldn't do any harm especially with the weather like this," Rey pointed out whilst drawing aside the curtains of the window he was standing beside.

The sky was grey and dark whilst raindrops pelted diagonally against the glass of the window.

Rey pull a forced grin. "I don't know about you but I don't quite fancy flying and getting struck by lightning..."

* * *

Durandal leant back in his seat, settling his head against the headrest tiredly whilst Meer narrate for the third (or possibly the fourth? He wasn't really keeping track) time how the intruder appeared in her room and what he did.

"I am the fairy of Clyne, aren't I, father?" Meer asked, worriedly wringing the ends of her sleeves, desperate for him to agree with her.

"Of course, Meer," he answered and she sighed in relief. He smiled gently and picked up her red Haro which has rolled across the desk towards him. If the girl wanted to cling to the silly illusion that she truly is the fairy of Clyne then let her. True, he did create her to resemble the fairy but ultimately it seemed like this experiment of his was a failure. No matter how closely he made her to be like the fairy, she was not the fairy.

He rolled the Haro from one hand to another. It squeaked and flapped it's ears energetically whilst he sank even further into his chair. No matter how great his powers were, he still couldn't create a being like a Clyne.

He smiled wearily and Meer, now having ran out of things to prattle about, watched nervously from her seat. If he can't create a being like a Clyne then the only way his plan could go on is if he found a Clyne, yes?

"Tell me about this boy again, Meer," he asked, setting the Haro down and rolling it towards her.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "He said I'm not the fairy,"

"And why was he looking for the fairy? Did he tell you?"

"No," answered Meer, feeling even more uncomfortable now that she knew she disappointed her father in giving him the answer he so wanted.

"It matters not," he laughed softly and dismissed the princess with a wave of his hand.

A boy who is seeking the fairy. How… interesting…

* * *

Stellar blinked her eyes wearily as she hugged her blanket around her shoulders and slipped into the bedroom next door.

"Auel?" she asked the darkness around her but the boy was sound asleep in the bed to her right. She tiptoed to his bedside and touched his shoulder, nudging him softly. "Auel? Stellar had a nightmare."

The boy grumbled something in his sleep then simply rolled over and ignored her. She turned and tried Sting instead. "Sting? Can Stellar sleep with you?"

Sting grunted and pressed his face into his pillow. "What's wrong with your own bed?"

"Stellar had a nightmare," she whispered as if that was reason enough for him to scoot over and make space for him.

"Go back to bed, Stellar," the green-haired boy yawned and fell back into dreamland once more.

Hugging her blanket around her, she bit her lip and wondered if Sting would be angry if she forcefully pushed him aside to make room for her. Should she try Auel again? It's raining and she doesn't want to be alone in her bedroom, hearing the raindrops patter against her window. At least the flashes in the sky and rumbling thunder was gone now…

Quietly, she tiptoed over to Auel. "Auel, can Stellar sleep with you?"

She heard a noise and was going ask Auel to repeat what he said but realised the noise wasn't from the boy at all.

"Sting?" she tried but it wasn't Sting either so she tried the only other name she remembered. "Neo?"

There was the noise again.

Where was it coming from? Oh! The window.

She nuzzled the curtains aside with her nose and peeked outside, spotting two strangers outside wearing thick hooded long coats. Curious and confident she was safe as long as she was in the same house as Neo, she pressed her nose against the window pane and watched.

They were talking about something, almost fighting but she couldn't quite hear their words.

"…this way!"

"… rain is muddling up your sense of direct…"

"..don't be… back of my hand…"

"Matters not… we're all heading to…"

"…dreadful weather…"

"…fly…"

Suddenly one of the figures threw the hood of his cloak back and Stellar was surprised to see the black-haired boy from earlier that day.

"Put it back on!"

"Can't see with it… stop fussing…"

Who was the boy? How does he know Stellar? Should she tell Neo that he's outside?

"Auel?" she whispered, reaching over and tugging on the edge of his blanket. "That boy is outside."

"Stop fussing, Luna! I'm not going to die from a little rain."

Her hand froze. Die? She turned back and stared down at the two figures with horrified eyes. Die? Did he say 'die'? Who is going to die? The boy?

"Your voice is too loud, Shinn."

Die? Shinn? He's called Shinn? Shinn is going to die?

_"I get it. Dying is scary. Yes. Now please calm down!"_

"Who said that?" she whispered aloud, suddenly feeling a pain in her head. "Stellar's head hurts. Is Stellar going to die?"

_Die._

_Death._

_Die._

_"It's okay. I'll save you! You won't die! I'll swim and save you!"_

_Die._

_Save._

_Die._

_Death._

"Why are you talking in Stellar's head? Who said that?" she whimpered and beside her, Auel started to stir in his bed.

He lifted his head groggily, hair messy and eyes barely open. "What are you crying about, you idiot?"

_"What is wrong with you, girl?"_

"Nothing is wrong with Stellar. Stellar is healthy. Stellar doesn't want to die," she sputtered out as she held her head tight between her hands. Maybe if she pressed hard enough, it'll stop trying to explode?

_"I'm Shinn."_

"Shinn?" she tried, testing the name's sound as it rolled off her tongue. "Shinn? Shinn. Shinn? Shinn?"

Death.

Die.

Shinn.

Save?

Save?

Protect?

_"It's okay. I'll save you! You won't die! I'll swim and save you!"_

Auel was definitely awake now and he reached out of his bed and poked her in the arm. "Stellar, what are you crying abou-"

"Stellar must protect Shinn!" the blonde suddenly cried and with a flash, black armour appeared on her body.

"Wha-! STELLAR! STING, WAKE UP. NEO! NEO! STELLAR, STOP! NEO!"

CRAAAASH and Stellar in Gaia armour just leapt through the window.

* * *

END OF CHAPTER THIRTY

* * *

**Passer-by:** I'm so sorry that it took this long for me to update this. I apologise enough.

**Miri_28: ***blushes at your review* Thank you. I tried my best and I'm glad you liked it.

**dEaYrEkSness**: Sorry for the wait. *sheepish* I'm not even going to try and give any reasons for it's lateness because it'll just end up sounding like lame excuses. So all I can do is apologise.

**dinah:** You read through it all in one day? I'm impressed and immensely flattered/honoured that you did so. Thank you. Seems like everybody here likes AsuCaga the most.

**KiKi Hayashi**


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